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Sunday, May 24th, 2020

High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020

Author:    
Source:     Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Publication Date:     May 22, 2020 / 69(20);632–635
 Link: High COVID-19 Attack Rate Among Attendees at Events at a Church — Arkansas, March 2020
Stephan:   Donald Trump is worried about the upcoming election so he is doing everything he can to open churches this weekend in support of his willfully ignorant Magas, most of whom are Fundamentalist White Protestants. These are the folks you see defying common sense and their community responsibility by openly going around without masks. Like everything Trump does his interest in opening churches is entirely self-referential; he couldn't care less about the peasants in their anti-intellect churches. In fact, as a result of the Maga churches opening, I predict you will see a marked increase in the incidence of Covid-19 in those communities. In the interest of full disclosure this is a pretty solid prediction because the data shows this is exactly what has happened in the past.

Summary

What is already known about this topic?

Large gatherings pose a risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

What is added by this report?

Among 92 attendees at a rural Arkansas church during March 6–11, 35 (38%) developed laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, and three persons died. Highest attack rates were in persons aged 19–64 years (59%) and ≥65 years (50%). An additional 26 cases linked to the church occurred in the community, including one death.

What are the implications for public health practice?

Faith-based organizations should work with local health officials to determine how to implement the U.S. Government guidelines for modifying activities during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent transmission of the virus to their members and their communities.

On March 16, 2020, the day that national social distancing guidelines were released (1), the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) was notified of two cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from a rural county of approximately 25,000 persons; these cases were the first identified in this county. The two cases occurred in a husband and wife; the husband is the pastor at a local church (church A). The couple (the index cases) […]

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1 Comment

  1. Lauren Raine on Sunday, May 24, 2020 at 4:21 pm

    Trump and his supporters are allowing a tragedy to become even more tragic and dangerous, as they pretend that “it’s all over now” or it’s “fake news”. I recently read an article by Bill Moyers about how we live in the era of “unreality” with trumpism:

    “we find ourselves once again engulfed in two realities. There’s the reality of a spiraling global challenge from coronavirus, and there’s the ALTERNATE reality created by the president and his political and propaganda empire. They are spreading a virus of their own, lulling true believers into complacent ignorance with lies and misinformation.”

    “https://billmoyers.com/story/losing-reality-can-we-get-the-truth-back/