(UCAN): In the parishes of Jiangxi province, southeast China, people have been on the front lines battling the new Omicron-driven Covid-19 outbreak that has been raging in parts of the country. Churches have called on priests and parishioners to take up their social responsibility at individual and community levels during the health crisis.
Father Wang Fuyuan and Father Gao Jianjun have been leading volunteer teams conducting medical testing and maintaining fully fledged isolation centres. The teams have paired up with local community health staff to serve people in need around the clock.
Local youth groups have also been active, prepring and installing information singage on the prevention and control of Covid-19 and continuing to spread health awareness messages on social media platforms like WeChat.
“Hello, please stop for a while and take your body temperature,” reads one sign. “For the health and safety of you and others, you must remember to wear a mask when you go out,” reads another poster.
Since March 16, Sister Xue Lixin from Yingtan Parish has been wokring with with government health workers in Meiyuan, checking vehicles and pedestrians entering and leaving the community.
“Amid the pandemic, we must do a good job,” the nun said.
In Shangqing Church, Sister Cheng Anying and Sister Fang Meilan joined a volunteer team doing swab test at the church entrance. In Fuzhou, Catholics have engaged in activities including cleaning up their areas and carrying out preventive measures such as testing.
Bishop John Baptist Li Suguang of the Archdiocese of Nanchang has called on people to express “the Christian spirit of benevolence” in battling the pandemic and organised a meeting of priests, religious and laypeople to lay out a plan of action to fight the pandemic.
“The fight against the epidemic requires the concerted effort of all the people of the province, including our Catholic priests and Catholics. In the face of the pandemic, no one can stay out of the battle,” Bishop Li said.
China has seen a sharp rise in new infections in recent weeks, forcing authorities in cities and provinces to enforce strict lockdowns and mass testing of residents.
