COVID-19: Rivers approves new guidelines for marriages, burial ceremonies 

The Rivers State government has approved new guidelines for the staging of marriages and burial ceremonies in the state amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was revealed on Wednesday by the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim, who said that prospective couples would be required to apply to the State Governor through the Commissioner for Social Welfare and Rehabilitation.

Nsirim who revealed this while briefing newsmen at Government House Port Harcourt also added that marriages would not have more than 50 attendees, including family members who must wear face masks and adhere strictly to social-distancing rules.

The commissioner said; “Such applications must be accompanied with information on the venue of the ceremony, names, addresses and phone numbers of attendees to make contact tracing easy if the need arises.

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“Marriages would not have more than 50 attendees, including family members who must wear face masks and adhere strictly to social-distancing of not less than two meters.

“While church weddings must be conducted between 9am and 12noon, traditional marriages would be conducted between 4pm and 7pm.

“Venues of marriages must have provisions for running water and soap at three points and the venue decontaminated after the event,” he concluded.

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