The Church is One of the Riskiest Places to Be Right Now
The COVID-19 pandemic remains as problematic as ever, especially in places of worship.
Back in June, researchers at Johns Hopkins studied the behaviors of a random sample of more than 1,000 people in Maryland. Based on their findings, you are 16 times more likely to contract COVID-19 if you have visited a place of worship at least three times in two weeks as compared to those who had not.
Because churchgoers are gathered in an enclosed space, even with the observance of social distancing, the singing of hymns and preaching of sermons inside one place with poor ventilation are conducive to the spread of coronavirus. The sharing of worship materials also contributes to the spread of the virus.
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Sunil Solomon, senior author, associate professor in the Bloomberg School's Department of Epidemiology and an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins School Medicine, said that the study was not focused on places of worship or churches but rather on the effects of social distancing in public.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, any gathering of 10 or more people posed as a particular risk for COVID-19 transmission. Gatherings like these are less likely to have proper implementations of social distancing and offer more opportunities for someone to come in contact with a person who has the virus.
What is ironic is that the coronavirus pandemic strikes fear in the hearts and minds of people, and most of them cannot retreat to churches to ask for comfort and protection from their God due to the risk of contracting the virus.
How to Prevent the Spread of Coronavirus
As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is known to spreadly mainly from person-to-person, and there is no vaccine yet found for this disease, the best way to prevent getting this illness is to avoid getting exposed to the virus by staying home as much as you can.
If there is really a need to go out, wear a mask, and maintain a social distance of at least six feet or about two arms' length from other people. The wearing of masks is not an excuse to not stay a proper distance away from people in a public setting.
New Normal for Churchgoers
Being physically present in houses of worship is no longer of utmost importance, according to Pastor John Boyd. More and more people are turning to online streaming services to still be in touch with other people. There are also services on TV, videos, and podcasts that people can have access to and not necessarily be attending in-person services.
If you insist on attending a church service in person, some churches offer to pre-book tickets online. There are also routine checking of temperature, sanitizing hands, and singing is no longer allowed. Hymnbooks will no longer be provided, as it will be displayed on the screen instead.
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