Founder and General Overseer at the International Central Gospel Church, Mensa Otabil has urged members of his church to continue worship from home amidst daily increasing cases of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the lifting of the ban on churches and raising the number of congregants to a maximum of 100 persons per service, Pastor Otabil says it is not safe to meet as a church in the midst of daily increasing cases of Covid-19 in the country.
“So the picture we get is that total cases have doubled in one month, deaths have tripled in one month, and daily cases have more than quadrupled.
“With these numbers and the trend that the virus is showing, we think that we cannot resume in persons and we will continue to have online services. We understand the burden it places on all of us but we think that the risk factors do not encourage us to have in person services,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo last month paved way for religious activities to continue in the country, however, in July, Covid-19 case count has witnessed a significant increase.
As of July 1, Covid-19 case count stood at 18,134 but within a period of four days, the numbers have increased to 20,085, a situation the Pastor fears could get worse if the protocols are not strictly adhered to.
He, therefore, insists members of his church continue worshipping from home.
“With the best of protocols we still face a very high risk. What we are dealing with is not a joke and we have to be very serious with how we deal with it.
“I know it feels very uncomfortable but we have to make some very tough choices both as individuals and as a nation.
“Sometimes we think wishing something will take it away but we can’t wish away a reality. The reality here now is that there is a virus out there, it is dangerous and it’s doing a lot of havoc. We must not wait to find out the havoc before we act. We must act so the havoc doesn’t happen,” he said.