Bolivia: Churches Reopen in Santa Cruz Amid Deconfinement

After four months of quarantine,  churches in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, reopened their doors to worshippers with strict sanitary measures to prevent COVID-19 infections. 

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Amid the precautionary measures, are the compulsory use of face masks, the measurement of temperature and the complete body disinfection.

When inside the church, maximum two people are allowed to seat per bench. For communion, the priest and nuns walk to the benches and deliver the communion waffers in the hands of the believers, always mantaining their distance.

Until now, masses were broadcast on social media and in media outlets. 

"Bolivia Santa Cruz restarts today the masses with the faithful in all its churches"

"The churches will open at only 30 percent of their capacity," Santa Cruz Mayor Angelica Sosa explained.

In recent days, Santa Cruz has been lifting some restrictions that have been put in place since the end of March, specially in the workplace, but also in religious sites. 

Santa Cruz is one of the hardest hit cities with more than half of the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Bolivia and the highest number of deaths, with 28,989 and 778, respectively.

Bolivia has a total  of 56,102 confirmed cases.