Aizawl: A month after the churches reopened for the day only on Saturdays or Sundays without congregational singing, the government of Mizoram decided on Tuesday to allow religious service at night twice a week.
An official statement said the meeting of officials, churches and NGOs to assess the current Covid-19 situation in the state on Tuesday decided to allow night services twice in a week outside of the holding worship service at noon on Saturday or Sunday.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Minister of Health, Dr R. Lalthangliana, also decided to allow congregational singing during the religious service in the church.
The State Executive Committee on Disaster Management has been tasked with preparing standard operating procedures (SOPs) and issuing an ordinance in this regard, a statement released by the government said.
The meeting, which was also attended by Home Minister Lalchamliana, authorized the Mizoram Presbyterian Church to hold night programs at ‘Kohhran Hmeichhe Khawmpui Lian’ (Women’s Department General Conference) to be held at the church Presbyterian from Khatla to Aizawl on Wednesday and Thursday, one said the statement.
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Churches and other religious places were reopened from February 1 after being closed for almost 11 months since March of last year due to the spread of Covid-19.
However, religious service was initially permitted at noon only on Saturdays, exclusively for Sabbath worshipers, and on Sundays for other denominations. Congregational songs or hymns sung during church service were not permitted.
Mizoram’s Covid-19 curve has consistently shown a significant downward trend since November of last year. There are only 7 active patients in the state and a total of 4,415 people (99.62%) have already recovered from the infection.
The northeastern state reported four cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases to 4,432.