Vicars at Bristol churches have been advised to stop passing the Communion cup at services in a bid to limit the spread of swine flu
Vicars at Bristol churches have been advised to stop passing the Communion cup at services in a bid to limit the spread of swine flu.
The Bishop of Bristol, Mike Hill, has advised Church of England clergy to halt the ritual of drinking wine at Holy Communion to prevent germs being passed around the congregation.
Priests have also been told to use alcohol-gel hand cleaners before services and warned to think twice about making home visits to parishioners who may be struck down with the illness and consider making phone calls instead.
Roman Catholic priests have also been advised to stop handing around wine during communion in areas where there have been outbreaks of swine flu by Clifton Diocese, which covers Bristol, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Somerset.
The restrictions come as figures revealed that Bristol has set up more Tamiflu collection points than anywhere else in the country.
Bristol’s clergy were sent guidance on how to deal with swine flu outbreaks after archbishops put out advice to bishops based on government information.
Tissues and bins are being made available in churches and priests are being urged to stay away if they develop symptoms.
A spokeswoman for the Bristol Diocese said: “It makes sense that we shouldn’t share a Communion cup, even though we take precautions to keep it clean. We either offer Communion in one kind, which means the wafers only, or the priest intincts the wafer, dipping it into the wine in the chalice and then putting it into the hand of the individual.
“Clergy always wash their hands before services and in addition they are now also using alcohol-based rubs. We are asking the clergy to use common sense and saying don’t panic.”
Department of Health figures yesterday revealed that Bristol has more collection points for anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza than any other primary care trust area in the country. The figures showed Bristol had 51 points, mainly at chemist shops.
Other trusts have instead chosen to concentrate stocks of the drugs at a few collection points.
Department of Health (DoH) officials say it is up to PCTs to decide how they distribute the drug.
A Bristol PCT spokeswoman said: “We set up plans to have anti-virals in pharmacies right across Bristol to spread the workload to do with swine flu and also to make use of our existing structure for distribution of medicines.
“Also, in Bristol we have several areas of deprivation so we were keen to ensure equal access for everyone right across the city.”
In contrast, Birmingham East and North PCT, which covers part of the swine flu hot-spot city, has just one collection point, while Leeds has six and Liverpool two. Government files show Bath and North East Somerset has four collection points, while North Somerset has 14 and South Gloucestershire PCT has one.
A DoH spokesperson said: “PCTs are successfully increasing the number of anti-viral collection points to meet the demands of their local population.”
Yesterday the House of Lords science and technology committee published a critical report on the Government’s contingency plans for dealing with the pandemic. It raised “serious concerns” about the National Flu Pandemic Service telephone hotline and website’s ability to meet demand in the in autumn.
Currently in the UK there is enough Tamiflu, and the alternative anti-viral, Relenza, to treat half the population of about 60 million. With more of the drugs on order, the proportion of people who could be treated is expected to rise to 80 per cent.
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