|PIC1|The Methodist Church has circulated guidance among church leaders on swine flu as numbers of infected in the UK rose to 13 on Friday.

The General Secretary of the Methodist Church, the Rev Dr Martyn Atkins, has called on deacons, presbyters and other leaders in the Church to consider how they can minimise the risk of catching and spreading the virus.

The ‘Swine Flu: Risks and Precautions’ document is gives practical advice to people in the Church in some form of leadership role and provides details of the websites and helplines offering up-to-date advice.

Tom Quenet, Partnership Coordinator for South America and the Caribbean, has been in contact with the Methodist Church in Mexico.

He said: “Swine flu has affected church life quite dramatically since all churches have been closed. There is concern for the marginalised people – especially the oldest and the youngest – that they should not be forgotten. Everybody has been called to look out for each other.”

The Methodist Church in Mexico has told authorities that it is ready to help people affected by the outbreak, which has killed 15 in Mexico and infected another 343 there.

Bishop Moisés Valdarrema Gomez, President of the Council of Bishops at The Methodist Church in Mexico, said: “We have a responsibility of stewardship for, not only our lives, but also for the lives of others, which means in situations like this we take responsibility for how our actions may affect others.

“Let us continue to pray for our families, our brothers and sisters in the faith, for our city and for the authorities. Let us turn this into an opportunity to unite in prayer for one another, having faith that God is the one leading our lives.”

Amextra, a group partnered with Christian development charity Tearfund, is working in Mexico, where the virus started, by handing out dietary supplements, face masks, soap and bleach to poor communities. Around 55 million people in Mexico are believed to live in poverty, with 22 million in extreme poverty.

Tearfund currently has a three person team in the “squatter settlement” of Lomas de San Isidro.

Abby King, a Tearfund spokeswoman, said of the team, “We’re getting them to restrict their movement at the moment, and stay close to their base, and to take precautions over basic hygiene … We would bring them back if it was the safest thing to do, but there are obvious health risks associated with travelling back to the UK.”

In Mexico City, churches suspended their services on Sunday and for the first time in almost 160 years a statue of the Christ of Health was carried through the streets. Mexico’s bishops have called on people to show their solidarity with those infected with the virus and not to panic.



On the web: www.methodistchurch.org.uk/swineflu