KUCHING, Jan 15 ― Non-Islamic houses of worship including temples and churches will be allowed to open on Chinese New Year Eve until midnight according to schedules fixed by their management, said Unit for Other Religions (Unifor) director Richard Lon.

"Despite so, the management of various temples and churches must ensure that their devotees strictly comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the authorities including maintaining physical distancing and not violating the maximum capacity allowed,” he said when contacted by The Borneo Post’s sister paper See Hua Daily News today.

Richard said even though temples are allowed to offer vegetarian food to devotees, they must make proper arrangements for the distribution of the food items.

He added that it would be ideal for the temple management to prepare packed food for their devotees, advising them to strictly adhere to the SOPs set by the authorities.

He reiterated that they must maintain physical distancing and limit the number of devotees for dine-ins.

The Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) and Unifor jointly announced yesterday that this year’s Chinese New Year celebration is again limited to the first day only, which is on Feb 1.

Only close family members will be allowed for the Chinese New Year Eve reunion dinner, and the capacity allowed is only 50 per cent, subject to the size of the residence.

Festive open house, house-to-house visiting as well as lion and dragon dance performances are not allowed to help curb the spread of Covid-19. ― Borneo Post