The Singapore mega-church has decided to move its services online amidst a surge in Coronavirus cases in the country. City Harvest Church, which has a congregation of 16,000, announced that it will temporarily suspend religious activities in its facility and instead broadcast its services on the internet.
Following Singaporean authorities reporting a significant increase in Coronavirus cases, the church made the decision to go digital. The country saw its confirmed cases rise from 8 to 58, marking its largest jump in cases to date.
In a live video message, Reverend Ho Yeow Sun addressed the congregation, stating, “The leadership has been deliberating over what is the wisest and most responsible thing to do for our church in view of the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 in this past week. This is a temporary measure. I look forward to the day when the situation stabilizes and we can all come back together for service again.”
The recent outbreak of Coronavirus has evoked memories of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003, which claimed the lives of more than 30 people in Singapore and nearly 800 worldwide.