On Friday Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner spoke with area faith leaders and said he will worship at his home church as usual tomorrow.He said after the conference call that he isn’t ordering any church, synagogue, mosque or temple to cancel services.
"If they plan to move forward, people have to exercise their own judgement. I am not telling religious organizations what to do. It is up to faith leaders to decide if they want to hold in-person or online streaming services,” Mayor Turner said. “It is very important for everyone to be responsible in what they are doing.”
He has offered the following recommendations:
Recommendations for Houston Faith-Organizations
- Ask members to stay home, if they have traveled internationally or domestically where cases of COVID-19, coronavirus disease have been reported
- Educate members who are over the age of 60 who may have who have severe underlying chronic medical conditions like heart disease or lung disease or diabetes, and encourage them to avoid large crowds
- Practice social distancing (spacing) to help contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19
- No hugging
- No handshaking
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