While restrictions have started to lift on having people in church on Sundays, medical expert Dr. Robert Strang of Nova Scotia says it could be a year or more before we return to ‘normal’ services.  

Each province has taken a slightly different approach to reopen public spaces, including churches, to the public since COVID-19 shut things down to slow the curve.  

Manitoba, with low cases of the virus, has started Phase 2 of reopening spaces on June 1, jumping from 10 people up to 25 inside. With the increased limit of people outside of up to 50, along with the warmer weather, quite a few churches have decided to host their services outside for the time being.  

However, the question regarding when believers will be able to worship freely in their church without wondering who is too close in proximity, or a restriction on the amount of people, Dr. Strang predicts it could be one, maybe two years away. 

The reason for this is that health officials are looking at when a vaccine for the virus will be made available to the public, which would assumedly allow Canada to resume everyday activities. 

In an article put out by The Catholic Register, Dr. Strang says one possibility in the future is that, “it may be that COVID becomes like a flu virus that we’ll have to live with.” 

The article also notes that Dr. Strang is part of the pan-Canadian COVID-19 Special Advisory Committee that helps establish national protocols to deal with the virus. 

With much speculation at this point, baring a second wave hitting Canada, each province will continue expanding on how many people can gather, to help out the economy. The Western provinces have already begun opening up, with the Eastern provinces hoping to follow suit shortly.  

Keeping the amount of people to a minimum in a building is for more than just Christians, according to Dr. Strang.  

He says, “In this new normal we have to protect people outside the faith community.”