Riverlife church has suspended all its child and youth-related programmes. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK HONG
ALMOST all of the members of Riverlife Church in Loyang who have contacted the Influenza A (H1N1) virus attended a youth service held on June 13. About 330 people, mostly youth of secondary school to junior college-going age as well as several youth leaders, were part of that service.
The church received confirmation of its first two H1N1 cases last Friday and has since suspended all its child and youth-related programmes, affecting about 800 of its members, said Riverlife management staff member Sarah Leung. But adult services went ahead as usual on Sunday.
Church members have been kept updated on the situation via text messages or e-mail. The church also started taking the temperatures of all members before they were allowed in.
The church, which has about 3,000 members, is monitoring the situation and will make a decision by tomorrow whether all services should continue for the coming weekend. Mrs Leung said: 'We want to balance precautionary measures with members who want to attend services for worship and spiritual input.'
A Health Ministry statement on Monday said there have been nine cases linked to the Riverlife Church.
Major churches contacted said they would go ahead with services, but would continue measures such as advising members who are unwell or who have returned from affected areas to avoid services, and implementing partial or full temperature-taking.
At the New Creation Church, where about 20,000 people attend Sunday services, thermal scanners, which had been mothballed after Singapore's alert level dropped from orange to yellow last month, were put back into action over the weekend.
When H1N1 first hit Singapore, the church, as an added precaution, also started using pre-ordered packs of grape juice and bread, which volunteers usually prepare for the Holy Communion, said church council honorary secretary Matthew Kang.
City Harvest Church, where some 27,000 members attend weekend services, implemented temperature checks last month for adults who looked unwell. It was then that the church bought 60,000 face masks and provided them to members who asked for them.
Faith Community Baptist Church, which has about 10,000 members, has conducted temperature checks at its services since the first H1N1 case here. Its spokesman said that no system was foolproof and personal responsibility was important. 'Each of us has to have social responsibility to take temperature checks.'
