FACED with the task of devising the most effective strategy to curtail the coronavirus outbreak, some state governors are choosing pious platitudes over straightforward scientific choices. All over the country, governors are competing to outdo one another in declaring churches and mosques open for congregational worship. With COVID-19 yet to peak in Nigeria, this is impulsive. The country lacks adequate facilities and equipment for testing, contact-tracing and isolating infected individuals.

In addition, the World Health Organisation says that countries still need to minimise transmission in potential hotspots, such as care homes and large gatherings. It is of deep concern that these states prioritise religious gatherings above the economy and personal safety. The virus has infected more than 5.5 million people worldwide and killed over 347,000. The need to get countries back to work to ameliorate the economic impact of the pandemic is, of course, urgent.

The welfare of the people and their economic survival should take precedence over religion in serious countries. The European Union says it is supporting member-nations to reopen international borders to re-energise tourism with a caveat that a country should have «a strong health system.» In this, the European Union education ministers heard at their recent virtual meeting that there was no significant spike in COVID-19 cases after elementary schools reopened in 22 EU states. In spite of this, these countries are staying alert, signifying they can re-impose lockdowns at any time because, with coronavirus, it is still stop and start. «We will be driven not by mere hope or economic necessity,» British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said.

«We’re going to be driven by science, the data, and public health».



The implication of their choice might not be evident immediately, but in the weeks ahead, the whole country might live to regret pandering to religious sentiments. That is perhaps why the Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom, reversed himself after initially directing that religious gatherings should go ahead. As images from the weekend show, the rush to lift the ban on religious gatherings appears rash. In some of the states that lifted the ban on religious gatherings, the incidence of the virus is rising sharply.

This does not warrant the reopening of religious gatherings. Really, religion and the virus are a fatal mix. Two-thirds of Malaysia’s initial cases in early March were traced to a four-day event at Sri Petaling mosque, the country’s Minister of Health, Adham Baba, said. Consequently, Saudi Arabia banned religious gatherings and was able to keep its COVID-19 infections under control.

Along this line, the Netherlands and Germany have banned social gatherings until September at the earliest. This is a pragmatic decision because religion is not the lifeblood of a country. In contrast, the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 tracker says Brazil is now the second most afflicted country in the world after the United States because President Jair Bolsonaro is recklessly treating the virus as «a little flu» that should not disturb church services. This serves as a lesson for the governors playing the religious card.

Nature, the authoritative research journal, warns that if restrictions are lifted prematurely, the impacts of the virus risk being prolonged.


Sources: https://kicknaija.com.ng/2020/05/26/lifting-ban-on-religious-gatherings-impulsive/

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