COVID Outbreak at North Carolina Church Linked to 12 Deaths and More Than 200 Cases

[Roland99]

https://people.com/health/covid-outbreak-north-carolina-church-linked-12-deaths-200-cases/

A COVID-19 outbreak that began at a North Carolina church has now been linked to 12 deaths and more than 200 cases.

United House of Prayer for All People, in Charlotte, held large gatherings over a week in early October without enforcing proper coronavirus safety precautions, like mask wearing and social distancing. In the month and a half since, cases linked back to the church have steadily increased, hitting 213 as of Nov. 19, and deaths are now up to 12.

The cases span four different counties with significant community spread, and health officials said that the majority of cases are in people who did not visit the church. An outbreak at a nearby nursing home, Madison Saints Paradise South Senior Living, has been traced back to the church. Two nursing home residents have died due to the outbreak and 19 others have tested positive for COVID-19.

...

Harris initially shut down all in-person gatherings at United House of Prayer in response to the outbreak, but later adjusted their restrictions after the church agreed to regular health inspections and to limit the amount of people allowed inside. Church leaders thanked the county for reconsidering, and said that they were “excited and thankful to be able worship the Lord and do so together,” according to the Charlotte Observer.

well...I guess being able to "do so together" will mean in the after-life

[Thomas Hurt]

1. They rolled the dice, tested the Lord, their God and lost...too bad.

[lindysalsagal]

2. Didn't pray hard enough.

Oh, well. Keep trying!

[SharonClark]

3. The sickening part of the article ---

"health officials said that the majority of cases are in people who did not visit the church."

[magicarpet]

11. Well if the deceased had been members of and attended that church regularly,...

... they would not have caught the Covid cooties.

[genxlib]

4. This is the "freedom" that the Supreme Court granted

The freedom to kill other people for your selfish desire to do what you want.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. The Supreme Court has blood on its hands ...

[gratuitous]

6. I've said it before

I sure hope the leaders of these congregations like doing funerals and memorial services, because their schedules are going to get filled up in a big fat hurry.

Our teeny-tiny congregation has been meeting by Zoom conference for months now. I'd love to see my church family in person, but that's off the table for now, and because we're grown-ups, we're just enduring until we can do do together.

Selfish jerks.

[greenjar_01]

7. This is a tragedy

My first, instinctual response was, "Oh well, play stupid games..." but then I pulled that back and really contemplated this disaster. It's deeply tragic. The impulse to continue on, especially with worship, and especially when it's the center of social life for so many people, is strong. This is sad. It's horribly sad, and yes, we can say that they were behaving irresponsibly and still grasp the tragedy of it all. And sadder still for those who didn't go to the church, but caught it from those who did. We can be angry and not lose our own humanity.

[malaise]

8. I wonder how many sheeple still believe that their Jebus will save them

from Covid because their pastor says they are chosen. Looks like they are being chosen to die from Covid. I have no sympathy for these stupid fucks. I just hate that they are allowed to spread it to others.

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. The other thing is that churches can't survive

without meetings. That's where a lot of their operating money comes from.

You hear about these huge super wealthy churches but most churches are small and operate on a shoestring.

My niece goes to a small United Methodist church and they haven't had services since March. They still have bills to pay.

[wishstar]

10. Yesterday the parking lots were packed at Latter Day Saints and Baptist Churches

in my area of Western NC. These churches that I often pass on Sunday mornings had not been in full attendance until yesterday but were packed yesterday with hundreds, undoubtedly due to the Supreme Court ruling since Gov. Cooper just recently reduced indoor gatherings to 10 people due to the surge of cases.

We will have massive spike by Christmas filling hospitals and affecting many of us who are being careful and following the mandates.

[Earthshine2]

12. Obviously, this is God's will.

They say, "God works in mysterious ways."

As for myself, I never cared much for mysteries.

[Mariana]

13. Churches are pestholes.

Anyone who insists on going to in-person services during this pandemic should be shunned by decent people.

[cwydro]

14. This is a huge church of mostly black parishioners in NC. In my hometown.

I live in a nearby city now; unfortunately the black churches have continued to have services here too.

This church refused to stop services despite health department orders.