Churches: Social Distancing At Its Best, But...

10:00 am. It is a Sunday at the Etoug-Ebe Baptist Church in Yaounde. Multitudes of Christians are making their way into the church building. At the entrance of the church is one of the ushers with a bottle of hand sanitizer. He is not only pouring hand sanitizer on the hands of each Christian entering the church, but also ensuring that each person is wearing a face mask. Those who are not wearing a face mask are prevented from the entrance. Such is amongst the measures taken by various church leaders to ensure that Christians respect the Covid-19 barrier measures put in place by the government and the World Health Organisation.  

While inside the Etoug-Ebe Baptist Church, one can count the number of Christians wearing the face masks they were obliged to wear before entering the church. From all indications, many Christians wore a face mask because they needed access into the church. There are those who said they cannot wear a face mask while singing and dancing in church. As such, the face mask became a chin mask or for the hand bag.

The situation seems not different at a Pentecostal church around the Etoug-Ebe neighbourhood in Yaounde. At the entrance to the church is a bucket of water meant for Christians to wash their hands. But from a glance, one can count the number of Christians who take time to wash their hands. A majority of Christians do not wash their hands. The wearing of a face mask is rare amongst those seen in church.  One can count the number of Christians wearing a face mask. Amongst the close to 50 people seen in church, not up to five were wearing a face mask. But a majority had a face mask in their bags. Physical distancing i...