Chinese Catholics have joined the national attempts to contain the latest flare-up of Covid-19.
Last week, Bishop John Baptist Li Suguang of Nanchang archdiocese in Jiangxi province called on Catholics to express “the Christian spirit of benevolence” in combatting the pandemic.
“The fight against the epidemic requires the concerted efforts of all the people of the province, including our Catholic priests and other Catholics,” he said, as he organised a meeting of priests, Religious and lay Catholics to set up an action plan. “In the face of the pandemic, no one can stay out of the battle,” Bishop Li added.
In parishes throughout Jiangxi province, Catholics are involved in preventive measures including testing, contact tracing and other medical assistance, says a report from the state-sanctioned Bishops’ Conference of the Catholic Church in China.
Churches have notified all members to respond as good citizens and undertake “social responsibility action” at individual and community levels during the health crisis.
Priests have led volunteer teams to conduct medical testing and maintain isolation centres, in collaboration with community health staff. Youth groups have prepared and installed signs for prevention and control of Covid and spread health awareness messages on social media platforms.
“For the health and safety of yourself and others, you must remember to wear a mask when you go out,” reads one message. “Amid the pandemic, we must do a good job not just as Catholics but also as good citizens,” said Sr Xue Lixin from Yingtan Parish in Jiangxi.
Catholic nuns and lay volunteers are conducting testing and collecting swabs from Catholics at church entrances. In recent weeks, mainland China and China’s special administrative region of Hong Kong have been reeling under the worst Covid-19 outbreak in two years, driven by a surge in the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.
Infections are edging towards 6,000 confirmed cases a day. This is despite China’s “zero tolerance” approach to dealing with outbreaks, which requires quarantines and lockdowns on entire communities when cases are detected.
This week, China’s financial hub of Shanghai imposed a lockdown. But there are signs of fatigue with the strict approach, with officials increasingly interested in softer and more targeted measures to contain infection. Economists have warned that tough clampdowns are hurting the economy and that the country should, like other nations, aim to coexist with the virus.
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