COVID-19: Church in Wales update

The Church in Wales has updated its COVID-19 Guidance which is reproduced below. Emphasis in original.


Coronavirus (Covid-19) guidance

Update: 15 July 2021

Welsh Government has announced the main changes in Covid regulations. These can be seen at

Please monitor the Welsh Government page, particularly the FAQ section, which sets out the main restrictions. We will seek to update this guidance accordingly.

The changes from Saturday 17th July will mean the following for churches and church halls:

  • There is now a limit of 1000 people (seated) and 200 people (standing) gathering indoors. However, the requirement to maintain two-metre social distancing is still in place so the capacity of buildings will still be reduced. However, for community activity, there should now be greater flexibility.
  • The wearing of face coverings indoors remains a requirement.
  • The need to provide for hand sanitising and premises cleaning remains.
  • We have received clarification that the serving of tea and coffee etc after services can now take place. You should update your risk assessment to allow for people to sit in groups of six with social distance between groups for this activity.
  • There remains some confusion over whether groups of six from six different households can be permitted to sit together for worship. Welsh Government guidance for Places of Worship at Guidance on reopening places of worship: coronavirus | GOV.WALES does not allow for the ‘rule of 6’ but in other settings this is now possible. We are seeking further guidance on the point and will confirm as soon as possible.
  • It is important to emphasise to congregations and attendees that the restrictions in Wales have not yet been relaxed as much as in England.
  • Generally, we support a cautious approach. Maintaining existing precautions and service arrangements seems a sensible approach at this time.
  • Our detailed guidance will be updated in the next few days and republished to reflect the changes on 17th July.

There are clearly more changes planned on the 7th August. We hope to learn more details in advance of that date from Welsh Government and will update guidance accordingly. It is clear that there will be much greater onus on local decision making and assessment of risk in each setting. There will be much less prescribed precautions going forward.


Cite this article as: David Pocklington, "COVID-19: Church in Wales update" in Law & Religion UK, 16 July 2021, https://lawandreligionuk.com/2021/07/16/covid-19-church-in-wales-update/

 

3 thoughts on “COVID-19: Church in Wales update

  1. New guidance for RC churches has also been issued. I can pass this to you if you haven’t already received it.

    • Many thanks Kristian. Yes please, I would be grateful if you could pass on the guidance for RC churches. I remember looking for it earlier, but was nearly overwhelmed by the volume of new guidance and legislation in the past day r so!.
      DavidP

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