Trump Demands States Open Up The Churches-- Most Americans Disagree

One of the Trumpanzee orders last week that caused a stir was his transparent ploy to kiss up to his increasingly shaky evangelic base. But even religious leaders have told him to slow down. Ian Fisher, reporting for Bloomberg News, wrote that even right-wing kooks like Robert Jeffress are telling Trump it's still to early to open safely and "in a signed letter to the president Saturday in the Washington Post, two evangelicals called his demand 'both irresponsible and potentially destructive.' They noted outbreaks in churches in South Korea, Georgia, Texas and Arkansas. On Saturday, 40 cases were traced to a church in Frankfurt, Germany."

Last month, Dr. Kevin Kavanagh for Infraction Control Today that Churches Could be the Deadliest Places in the COVID-19 Pandemic, noting that "One of the cruelest characteristics of the coronavirus epidemic is that it strikes fear in the hearts and minds of many causing them to ask for comfort and protection from the God they believe in. And at the same time this virus has made a church service one of the most deadliest places to be in. The combination of singing in close quarters and decreased ventilation is nothing short of a petri dish (or cell plate) for viral growth."

Observed infection rates can be astronomical. In Washington State, a choir practice of 60 individuals who practiced social distancing resulted in 45 infections, 3 hospitalizations and 2 deaths.

One may ask: Why am I calling out churches? The answer is asymptomatic spread and aerosolization of the virus from singing. It’s been determined that this virus is much more infectious than the flu. National leaders are now saying 3 times as infectious, giving the epidemic a R0 of approximately 4. This probably requires other methods of transmission than from sneezing and coughing. And if approximately 50% of individuals catch this virus from asymptomatic carriers, one must ask, how are these carriers spreading the virus? They are not coughing and sneezing. The answer is probably aerosolization, were the virus can float in the air and be picked up later by an unsuspecting passerby. The virus has been observed to survive in an aerosol form for up to 3 hours. Thus, singing and church choirs may be the worst practice one can participate in.

On Friday, PRRI called our attention to a simple fact that has evaded the notice of the White House: there is broad opposition among the public to religious exemptions during stay-at-home orders. "Only about one in five (21%) Americans favor allowing churches and religious organizations to hold in-person services even when the government has issued a stay-at-home order. More than three in four (77%) oppose such a religious exemption, including 40% who strongly oppose such a policy... White evangelical Protestants (33%) are more likely than other religious Americans to favor allowing in-person religious gatherings. Fewer than one-quarter of nonwhite Protestants (25%), religiously unaffiliated Americans (18%), white Catholics (18%), and white mainline Protestants (15%) favor allowing in-person religious gatherings."