• UK
  • World
    • USA
  • Entertainment
    • Celeb
    • Showbiz
    • Magazine
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Gaming
  • Tech
  • Science
    • Education
  • Insurance
  • Business
  • Auto
  • ToS/Contact
    • ToS
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
NewsExplored
  • UK
  • World
    • USA
  • Entertainment
    • Celeb
    • Showbiz
    • Magazine
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Gaming
  • Tech
  • Science
    • Education
  • Insurance
  • Business
  • Auto
  • ToS/Contact
    • ToS
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • LinkedIn

  • Tumblr

  • RSS

Tech

Coronavirus doctor’s diary: Trying out tech that may help make worship Covid-secure

Coronavirus doctor’s diary: Trying out tech that may help make worship Covid-secure
Newsexplored
30th September 2020
6
SHARES
ShareTweet
SubscribeRedditGoogleWhatsappStumbleuponPinterestDiggLinkedinTumblrTelegram
Views:
1
Man walking through sanitiser in mosque
1px transparent line

A Bradford mosque is trying out new equipment designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Dr John Wright, of the city’s Royal Infirmary, takes a look and finds out how other places of worship have been adapting to pandemic conditions. He also hears about a trial in the US to test whether prayer can help Covid patients in intensive care.

It is a telling reflection on our society that the road to normality is lined with pubs, shops and restaurants. When lockdown ended, the government’s priority was to get people back on the high street, and of course businesses badly needed their support. But it’s interesting that our economic health takes precedence, while our spiritual health remains optional.

The closure of churches, mosques and temples during lockdown left a gaping hole in many people’s lives, and their re-opening has brought a welcome return of both religious and social connectedness, particularly for older people.

We know from the dark days of the peak of the pandemic that religious settings hosted some of the super-spreading events that fed the transmission of infection: weddings, funerals and even choirs. After the lifting of lockdowns, churches have been the source of outbreaks in South Korea and the US. So the re-opening of places of worship remains a challenge, and it’s one they have had to face without financial help from the Chancellor.

I visited one of Bradford’s mosques with my good friend Zulfi Karim, who, as well as being the president of the city’s Council for Mosques, is a Covid-19 survivor - and only just. He picked up the virus right at the start of the pandemic and had a relentless and gruelling illness followed by a lingering debilitation that has lasted over six months.

The al-Markaz ul Islami mosque, based in a converted mill, is a focal point for the local Muslim community as well as a spiritual home. Like all other mosques in the city, it closed down during lockdown and its congregation adapted to praying at home. With the lifting of lockdown, the imam recognised the importance of providing a safe space for his congregation and worked with two local GPs, Tahir Shaheen and Shiraz Ali, to create a Covid-secure place of worship.

Image caption Zulfi Karim is sprayed with jets of sanitiser

They showed me how they have redesigned the mosque with the latest technology to screen for fevers and check that face masks are being worn. An airport-style security booth sprays a mist to disinfect all visitors and a clever ventilation system checks the purity and circulation of the air.

“In the lockdown people were praying at home, but there are certain prayers that are only valid if they’re in congregation, like Friday prayer. Our numbers are now restricted; we have capacity for just 10-15% of our normal capacity given the restrictions. We have many more people wanting to come than we can accommodate,” Zulfi tells me.

Since early July, an online booking system has been in place. When people walk through the door, the new equipment instantly measures their body temperature and anyone with a fever is guided to a quarantine room where they can be checked again, imam Muhammad Ishtiaq tells me.

Those whose temperature is normal proceed to a sanitising station, and from there to the prayer room, where there are markings on the floor at one metre distances. The equipment was generously donated by a company called P4 Technology and the mosque will trial it for a year.

“If the technology allows us, and it’s been approved, we are hoping that we will be allowed to take the face masks off and stand side by side,” the imam says.

data-ad-format="auto">

“If it benefits us, we want all other religions and groups to be able to benefit from it,” adds Dr Shazad Ali.

Front line diary

Image copyright Ian Beesley

Prof John Wright, a doctor and epidemiologist, is head of the Bradford Institute for Health Research, and a veteran of cholera, HIV and Ebola epidemics in sub-Saharan Africa. He is writing this diary for BBC News and recording from the hospital wards for BBC Radio.

  • Listen to the next episode of The NHS Front Line on BBC Sounds or the BBC World Service
  • Or read the previous online diary entry: Will universities be able to avoid spreading the virus?

At the Sikh temple on Leeds Road, in Bradford, volunteers have been checking that worshippers are wearing face masks. People have been encouraged to remain at a distance of two metres and singers have been located behind glass screens. Earlier this month, though, someone who’d attended the temple tested positive for Covid-19 and all those present on the same day had to self-isolate for two weeks.

The Bishop of Bradford, Toby Howarth, tells me that communion in the cathedral is now very different. Only the priest can receive the wine; the priest then walks down the aisle putting the bread into each person’s hand, disinfecting his or her own hands every time. In some churches, services are held online, or worshippers can watch a recorded sermon and then go to their church for communion.


“Then there are other places that deliver the liturgy to people’s houses, and everyone says the liturgy at the same time every week, knowing that everyone else is saying the same thing,” Bishop Toby says. “So there is this sense that even if I can’t see you, we are doing it at the same time - and almost with a heightened awareness of people saying it because they’re not in the same building.”

One lovely example of where religion and science have come together in the hope of fighting Covid-19 is in Kansas, in the US, where doctors and religious leaders are carrying out a trial of prayer for Covid-19 patients in intensive care.

This is no Mickey Mouse trial either. A double blind, randomised controlled trial of 1,000 patients, trials don’t get much more scientifically robust than that. Now I suspect that most patients would be a little concerned if on the morning ward round their doctors dropped to their knees and started calling out for God’s intercession. It certainly wouldn’t fill you with optimism.

In this trial, however, the prayer is done remotely - a universal prayer from five denominations (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism) with the control group just getting standard medical care. We are constantly searching for more effective treatments, so let’s wait and see whether prayer is as effective as dexamethasone.

Follow @docjohnwright and radio producer @SueM1tchell on Twitter

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Related

Related Itemscoronaviruscoviddiarydoctorsecuretryingworship
Tech
30th September 2020
Newsexplored @newsexploredweb

Related Itemscoronaviruscoviddiarydoctorsecuretryingworship

More in Tech

  • Read More
    Five ways the virus has changed Netflix

    Views:1 By Natalie ShermanBusiness reporter, New York image copyrightNetflix image captionComedy series The Good Place has been...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    iPhone 12: Apple makes jump to 5G

    Views:1 By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor Published 7 hours ago image copyrightApple Apple has confirmed its iPhone...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    Ada Lovelace Day: ‘2020 has been a hard slog’

    Views:1 By Zoe KleinmanTechnology reporter From caravans to kitchen tables, and podcast production to pregnancy, I’ve been...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    Microsoft makes remote work option permanent

    Views:1 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption New guidance sent to Microsoft staff indicated that working fro...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    FIFA: What it’s like playing the game as a professional footballer

    Views:1 Image copyright Getty Images “For my FIFA Ultimate Team I just get as many fast and...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    US man avoids jail in Thailand over bad resort review

    Views:1 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption File photo of a tourist resort in Koh Chang, Thailand...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    What is the cost of ‘cancel culture’?

    Views:1 Image copyright Pavel Paulinich What is the cost of ‘cancel culture’? Pavel Paulinich was working as...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    US tech giants accused of ‘monopoly power’

    Views:1 Image copyright Getty Images/EPA/Reuters Image caption Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    Facebook bans QAnon conspiracy theory accounts across all platforms

    Views:1 Image copyright Reuters Image caption QAnon influencers have big audiences on social media Facebook has banned...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    Sali Hughes: I met the woman who trolled me online

    Views:1 Image copyright Sali Hughes A few weeks ago, in a chilly London plaza, I met a...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    The robot shop worker controlled by a faraway human

    Views:1 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionThe remote-controlled shop assistant In a quiet aisle...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
  • Read More
    ‘App thought I’d catch Covid through neighbour’s ceiling’

    Views:1 Image copyright Getty Images A coronavirus app user says he was told to self isolate when...

    Newsexplored 30th September 2020
Scroll for more
Tap
data-ad-format="auto">
NewsExplored

NewsExplored - Making sure all the latest news is explored?

Contact us for help

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • Comments

  • Ervin Staub: A Holocaust survivor’s mission to train ‘heroic bystanders’
    USA5th October 2020
  • Storm Alex brings heavy rain and high winds to parts of UK
    UK2nd October 2020
  • Hull to Belgium ferry closure ‘end of an era’ for city
    UK1st October 2020
  • Transfer news: Winners and losers after deadline day
    Sports6th October 2020
  • Ethiopia River Nile dam: PM condemns ‘aggressions’ after Trump comment
    USA24th October 2020
  • US Election 2020: Biden seeks to clarify remark on ending oil
    USA24th October 2020
  • Presidential debate: Trump and Biden row over Covid, climate and racism
    USA23rd October 2020
  • Fact-check: Who caged children first?
    USA23rd October 2020
  • Les Rehrer says:

    Hello Its me :P and thanks for this post

  • optumrx login says:

    Thank For News.

  • Kent Laatsch says:

    Please let me know if you're looking for a writer…

  • Bob says:

    RT News was where I learned that Erdogan controlled isis.…

Copyright © 2018 Top News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by Wordpress.

Broadband ‘so bad I work from my friend’s shed’
London Marathon 2020: Athletes to wear social-distancing tech
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok