CALGARY -- The province will now further limit the size of all in-person religious services to 15 per cent of fire code capacity.
The changes take effect at midnight Saturday, impacting services Sunday morning, Dec.13.
While the changes apply to all faiths, the announcement comes as Christians prepare to celebrate Christmas, a time when attendance is often up.
Online or drive-in services where attendees do not leave their vehicles are not affected.
In addition, all attendees must wear a mask, services must be held in their usual location and cannot be held in private homes. Faith leaders and speakers may remove their masks while speaking, but only if there is at least two metres of space around them.
Less restrictive than many places
The restrictions are still less restrictive than those in place in many parts of the country. Toronto has roughly the same population as Alberta and reported 646 new cases, compared to Alberta’s 1735 new cases on the same day.
Religious services in Toronto and other “grey zone” regions are limited to 10 or less people.
Both B.C. and Manitoba have closed their places of worship entirely.
Calgary’s Jewish community, which will begin Chanukah celebrations this Thursday, has been exceeding government guidelines in some cases closing synagogues to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Life is sacred,” said Jared Shore of the Calgary Jewish Federation. “We can’t do anything that risks health and safety inside or outside the community."
"The candle of Chanukah is lit as the night sets in," said Rabbi Menachem Matusof of Chabad Lubavitch. "The darkness that the world is facing today is unparallelled in our recent history. A little bit of light of will push away a lot of darkness."
"I cannot support gatherings in public places or at homes when we do need to be careful."
