As protests for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black folks who have been the victims of police violence continue across the nation, many have questioned how such large gatherings will impact the spread of the novel coronavirus. While the answer to that question remains to be seen (and is likely a complex one in itself), another question that hasn’t gotten enough mainstream media attention is one of how in-person religious gatherings may contribute to the spread of the virus. The latest example comes to us from West Virginia, where, as reported by local outlet WCHS-TV, 28 members at Greystone Baptist Church in Greenbrier County tested positive for the virus.
Gov. Jim Justice issued a press release encouraging all people in the state “especially when in church settings” to maintain social distancing, use every other pew, and to wear masks. Gov. Justice also noted that many people who attend services are “elderly and at higher risk.”
According to the outlet, the governor actually sent the National Guard to the church to do decontamination work. In addition, the church will be closed for 14 days. “As I have said many times, we will have stormy seas before we get a vaccine,” the Republican governor added in the release, “so it is imperative that we strictly follow the guidelines or the seas will only get rougher.”
Of course, worries that churches—and any group gatherings, at this point—may be hotbeds for the virus aren’t new. While some religious leaders have gone entirely remote in order to make services safer for everyone involved, some did make headlines for staying open.
For example, in Louisiana one pastor insisted on holding in-person services even after he was arrested over and charged with six misdemeanors on account of defying the state governor’s executive order. Before that, in Florida, a megachurch leader went viral because of his claim that “if we die, we die for Christ.” He, too, was eventually arrested for holding packed services in spite of the county’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order. In Arkansas, nearly 40% of people who attended services in early March contracted the virus, with three individuals dying because of it. After a possible cluster was reported at a California church from a Mother’s Day service, close to 200 people were quarantined.
