Some British parishioners are being advised to hug rather than shake hands "as a sign of peace" in measures by churches to try to stop the spread of swine flu, a report said Wednesday.

　　The Church of England has introduced the measure in its Southwark diocese in southeast London as concerns mount about the spread of swine flu in Britain, the Financial Times said.

　　Some churches have also begun to allow "intinction" or dipping bread in communion wine rather than sharing the chalice, while others have stopped offering wine altogether, the newspaper said.

　　A British bishop has already advised his diocese to suspend holy water from churches in a bid to halt the spread of the A(H1N1) virus.

　　The measures follow ones being introduced in other countries, including in Portugal where church goers are to take communion by having the host placed in their hands, not their mouth.

　　Swine flu has now killed more than 700 people around the globe, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday, as experts debated whether schools should be closed to contain the pandemic.

　　本周三有報(bào)道稱，一些英國教堂建議教區(qū)居民用擁抱代替握手來傳遞“和平的信號(hào)”，以防止豬流感的傳播。

　　《金融時(shí)報(bào)》說，由于越來越多的人擔(dān)心豬流感在英國擴(kuò)散，英國教會(huì)在倫敦東南部的南華克主管教區(qū)推薦了這一方法。

　　報(bào)紙上說，有的教堂已經(jīng)開始允許用面包蘸圣餐酒，不再共用圣餐杯，而其他一些教堂則完全停止供應(yīng)集體圣餐酒了。

　　一位英國主教已經(jīng)建議他主管教區(qū)的教堂暫停供應(yīng)圣水，從而防止甲型H1N1流感病毒的傳播。

　　這些措施效法了其他國家的做法，例如葡萄牙，那里的教徒領(lǐng)圣餐時(shí)是把面包放在手中而不是放進(jìn)嘴里。

　　世界衛(wèi)生組織本周二稱，目前豬流感已經(jīng)在全球奪去了700多人的生命，專家們正在討論是否應(yīng)該關(guān)閉學(xué)校來抑制豬流感的大規(guī)模流行。