Dear brothers and sisters,

This afternoon, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have written to all Bishops in the Church of England to issue updated guidance to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The full guidance is online, but essentially it is their view that, in light of the continued increase of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom, it is now necessary to suspend the administration of the chalice as well as physical contact during the sharing of the peace, blessing or "laying on of hands".

We therefore advise that all priests should:-

• Offer Communion in one kind only to all communicants (i.e. the consecrated bread/wafer/host, with the priest alone taking the wine)

• Suspend handshaking or other direct physical contact during the sharing of the Peace

• Suspend direct physical contact as part of a blessing or ‘laying on of hands’

The Archbishops themselves will be following this guidance when they preside at the Eucharist, as will I - and we ask that you would do likewise.

They also wrote to assure us of their prayers and thoughts as across the country, communities consider what steps they can take to care and support one another.

It is clear that in these unsettled times, we must not let the fear of infection turn into a fear of one another. Our churches have a crucial role to play in offering a positive message of hope to those who are fearful, and in caring for the elderly, the vulnerable and the isolated as we give our attention to those most at risk.

The situation is, of course, changing day by day - and the Church of England will continue to seek national advice and to update its guidance. Clearly, none of us knows precisely how the current situation will develop - so we need to continue to pray and work to be prepared for all reasonable eventualities. To that end, the Church offers this prayer for all those affected by the spread of Coronavirus:

Keep us, good Lord,
under the shadow of your mercy.
Sustain and support the anxious,
be with those who care for the sick,
and lift up all who are brought low;
that we may find comfort
knowing that nothing can separate us from your love
in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span>

I would like to add my thanks to those of our archbishops for all that you are doing to encourage one another, to care for one another and to provide resources to enable people to respond appropriately in these uncertain times.

With blessings,

The Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin

Bishop of Dover and Bishop in Canterbury

10 March 2020