NIH Director Urges Religious Leaders To Close Places Of Worship Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins on Thursday called on churches to switch to virtual services as the country experiences new rapid outbreaks of coronavirus infections.

“I know people are tired of hearing these messages and having to act on them, but the virus doesn’t care that we are tired,” Collins said in a Zoom conversation with Russell Moore, Chairman of the Ethics and Religious Freedom Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“The virus is having a wonderful time right now spreading across this country taking advantage of the circumstances where people have let their guard down,” he added. “We have to be absolutely and strictly adherent to the things that we know to work, but they only work if everyone sticks to them faithfully, without exception.

“Churches meeting in person are a source of considerable concern and have certainly been a case where super-spread has occurred and could happen again,” continued Collins, who said he was a practitioner himself. . “So I think most churches should be advised, if they aren’t already, to look to some kind of remote virtual service.

“We, as Christians, are called not to be observers, but to participate in overcoming this and facing the needs of assistance to the sick and suffering,” he said, adding that people can do this by wearing masks and following others. safety guidelines in the midst of the pandemic.

The NIH chief also called on Christians not to see a mask warrant as “a political statement” or “an invasion of your personal freedom”, calling a face covering “a rescue device.”

“When you put on this mask, you protect yourself from others, but above all you protect them from yourself. You do the selfless, loving thing of saying, “I’m going to protect people from me. And that’s a Christian action if I’ve ever heard of one.

The comments came the same day from the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a California church who raped Gov. Gavin NewsomGavin Newsom A longtime Newsom adviser arrested on domestic violence charges in the United States has more than 14 million cases of coronavirus. Overnight Health Care: Biden Asks Fauci To Serve As Chief Medical Advisor | COVID-19 relief ramps up as McConnell and Pelosi hold talks | Rhode Island Governor Raimondo says she won’t be Biden’s HHS secretary MORE(D) the ban on indoor religious services.

California’s current health order Orders the closure of several covered businesses, including church services, in counties of its highest rank, areas that have more than seven new daily cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents.

The High Court ruling followed a similar November ruling in favor of Christian and Jewish places of worship that challenged New York state’s restrictions on coronavirus hotspots.

Following the New York ruling, a California pastor said his community had a “biblical mandate” coming together for inside services in defiance of state health orders, pledging to continue to allow members of the congregation to assemble for inside services.

The United States on Thursday recorded a total of more than 14 million coronavirus infections, averaging about 1 million new cases every six days over the past month. The country had more than 276,000 deaths from the virus on Friday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.