Mizoram churches reopen after over 10 months

Churches in Mizoram reopened on Sunday after a gap of over 10 months.

The government has allowed churches to reopen with only 50 per cent seating capacity and permitted church services only during the daytime on every Saturday and Sunday.

The decision to reopen the places of worship in the Christian-majority state was taken following a dip in COVID-19cases.

The religious institutions were shut since March 22last year after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Though Seventh-Day Adventist churches were reopened on Saturday, a majority of the churches belonging to Baptist, Presbyterian and other denominations reopened on Sunday.

Expressing happiness over the development, LalhmunsangF Tusing of the Evangelical Free Church of India (EFCI) said,'' We must thank the almighty and keep praying so that the pandemic is completely contained.'' ''The re-opening of the churches has brought joy to the Christians. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us how necessary it is to remain attached to the church,'' Lalsiamkunga, an elderly churchgoer said.

The state's COVID-19 curve showed a downward trendwith the infection rate dropping to 2.04 per cent.

Mizoram's COVID-19 tally rose to 4,382 on Sunday asone more person tested positive for the infection.

The state now has 23 active cases, while 4,350 peoplehave recovered from the disease and nine patients havesuccumbed to the infection so far.