Christmas Mass passes required at Dunngannon church

PARISHONERS in Dungannon are being asked to book places for the Christmas Mass services in a fortnight’s time, as the threat from coronavirus continues to loom large.

From Monday, passes will be issued to those wishing to attend the Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Mass in St Patrick’s Church.

The announcement was made just days before the first cases of the new Omicron variant of Covid 19 were confirmed here in the North

In a notice inside last week’s parish bulletin, parishioners were informed, “Each person wishing to attend Mass will require a pass, a booking form is available inside this bulletin and more are available at the back of St Patrick’s Church. In order to ensure that the issuing of passes goes as quickly and smoothly as possible, please have these completed with your details, including the Mass you wish to attend -if your first choice is not available please be prepared to accept an alternative Mass time. Please remember that if you are shielding or vulnerable and have been watching Mass online, you should continue to do so.

“We ask that everyone attending Mass wears a face mask whilst in the Church, in order to protect each other. Please be aware of the importance of hand sanitising when entering the Church and please respect social distancing at all times.”

On Wednesday, the North’s chief medical officer Michael McBride said there would be a “significant increase” in Covid case numbers before Christmas.

Speaking about the new variant, he said, “We need to be very careful, I think we need to be guarded, and I think we need to just watch this space until we get more data. We would be premature to get too far ahead of ourselves and certainly wrong to panic.”

This week, the Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon and Health Minister Robin Swann issued a joint reminder on the importance of wearing face coverings on public transport, with more people travelling over the festive period.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said, “We are all aware of the rising case numbers and the pressure on our health service. Now is the time to redouble our efforts, particularly during the busy festive period, to remain vigilant and continue to play our part in preventing the spread of Covid-19.

“Our public transport operators have provided vital services throughout this pandemic, and additional services are being added over the Christmas period to ensure that we can all travel safely. Our front line transport workers have worked tirelessly and unacceptably they have been subject to abuse on too many occasions when reminding some passengers of the need to wear a face covering. That must stop.

“You must wear a face covering when travelling on our public transport services and in stations, unless you are exempt. By wearing a face covering you are helping protect your fellow passengers and public transport staff and playing your role in keeping everyone safe.

Health Minister Robin Swann said, “The recent emergence of the new variant Omicron has highlighted this. Face coverings continue to be an effective public health measure against this virus. We all have a part to play to curtail the transmission of Covid-19 and to protect ourselves and those we come into contact with on a daily basis.”