Coronavirus: Ethiopia religious bodies order closure of places of worship

Barely twenty-four hours after the Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, EIASC, announced cessation to all prayers in mosques, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church, EOTC, announced a similar measure.

The church’s Holy Synod at a press briefing on Wednesday said as of tomorrow followers of the Church, the largest in Ethiopia, should pray from home and only a limited number of priests should conduct prayers inside churches.

The Holy Synod also decided that all premises of spiritual colleges, Sunday schools and other facilities under EOTC should be designated to serve as isolation centers for COVID-19 suspected patients in the event of the possible spread.

The church also donated 3 million birr to contain the virus.