God’s Got You Covered

Posted on by Thor

Schools are opening despite a steep rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths. In the coming weeks 51 million students will return to school and have to balance learning with health concerns. Schools don’t have the budgets to truly create safe learning environments. Some teachers are given a single bottle of sanitizer and told they must supply any other needs themselves.

In Dallas Georgia, Hannah Watters, a North Paulding High School student, took a photo of a crowded hallway as students waited to get to class. Few students had masks on, and there was no social distancing. The student who took that photo was suspended. After the photo went viral, the principle revered his decision.This student however is getting threats online from fellow students. One student pointed out in an online  group that he knows where she lives. Another said she will have a rough day come Monday. Three days after the photo was taken, 9 students tested positive for COVID-19. The school is having to shut down to disinfect.

In another viral photo, a young girl was surrounded by her smiling parents and she held up a sign that said, “Take your mask off, God’s got you covered.” That judgemental sign must have been dictated by her parents. Anti Maskers are emboldened by our sad excuse of presidential leadership in Trump. Anti maskers claim the crisis is overblown, the death rate is minuscule and only affects the weak, and it’s time to stop living in fear. They are tired of social isolation and want everything to magically return to normal. They believe the COVID-19 scare is a hoax designed to destroy America and that masks are for wimps. They say open the bars, open the malls. Time to party! God’s got y’all covered! So many of my Florida neighbors share these selfish sentiments. I avoid them like the plague.

Rather than love, this un-Christian message conveys self-righteous. It made me wonder how Jesus might have my back. Would he protect me from the unseen virus with his hands? Then I thought, well, his hands wouldn’t make the best mask since the hole from the nail that punctured his palms would let in plenty of virus.

Anti-maskers are rebelling against even the simplest guidelines, while teachers and other staffers say they won’t go to work if schools aren’t safe. About 28% of public school teachers are over age 50, making them especially vulnerable to the virus. Many would rather retire that risk their health. Teachers want  widespread testing of students, staff and visitors for the virus. In Orange County Florida, all 212,000 students learning online for first 9 days of the school year.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams addressed those who don’t want to wear a mask: “taking these public health measures will help you be able to do more of the things that you enjoy, worship, school, restaurants.”

They Know Not What They Do

Posted on by Thor

Vice President Mike Pence took a trip to Texas where he visited the First Baptist Church in Dallas on Sunday June 28, 2020. A choir of more than 100 people performed without masks spraying each other and the audience with aerosolized droplets which spread COVID-19.  According to organizers, nearly 2,200 people attended the Celebrate Freedom Rally.

Studies have suggested that COVID-19 can spread through respiratory droplets in the air that can linger inside buildings. High-powered vocalizations, for instance loud talking or singing, are particularly efficient in producing these tiny particles. Other choir-linked outbreaks have occurred in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands.

Throughout the service, the members of the choir sang at full volume, behind an orchestra. I really feel bad for the orchestra who would have gotten the full force of the fire hose. Singers were not six feet apart. The audience packed in a few rows back were also not practicing social distancing. Face masks at the event were “strongly encouraged,” with signs posted around the venue signaling the suggestion. Perhaps 50% of the audience took the suggestion while some wore the masks incorrectly. The choir put their masks on between songs which is counter intuitive since the singing is the best way to spray the virus into the venue. Secret Service agents must have known to place the Vice President off to the side rather than being seated front and center. The indoor service lasted for about one and a half hours.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an outbreak in a 122-member choir in Washington state. 86% of singers that attended that one rehearsal contracted the deadly virus. At that 2.5-hour choir practice attended by 61 persons, including an symptomatic patient, there were 32 confirmed and 20 probable secondary COVID-19 cases that occurred. Three patients were hospitalized, and two died.

In an interview Pence said that “people should listen to state and local officials on wearing masks in public, every state has a unique situation.” Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott opened his state early. The state has become a hot spot for the spread of the virus in recent weeks and he has had to reverse his position by requiring bars to close, putting restrictions on outdoor gatherings, and scaling back restaurant dining to help stop the spread.

The CDC initially recommended that churches consider suspending or at least decreasing the use of a choir and congregants singing during services. The CDC asserted that “The act of singing may contribute to transmission of Covid-19, possibly through emission of aerosols.” They have had to soften their language by “suggesting” or asking people to please “consider” life saving measures. Late last month however, the agency quietly removed that guidance from its website. According to The Washington Post, the White House requested that change.

I actually got sick to my stomach working on this illustration. I went into the bathroom and dry heaved. I am being physically affected by blatant the irresponsibility I see all around me. I scrubbed the bowl while kneeling before it. That is when the image of the Exorcist pea soup fire hose effect hit me. It occurred to me that Trump uses the same distraction technique when he doesn’t have an answer to any policy question. Denying reality does not defeat reality.

“Forgive them father for they know not what they do.”