Now is not the time to relax our vigilance.
I do not expect readers who are planning to attend an Easter service in person at their church or some other church will welcome this word of caution. Some readers may choose to ignore it.
The reduction of restrictions in some parts of the country is not a sign that we are out of the woods. In several cases these restriction reductions are motivated by politics and not guided by public health considerations. This has been an ongoing problem in the United States and accounts for a significant number of unnecessary infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. So does the unwillingness of a segment of the US population to take the COVID-19 coronavirus with the seriousness that it deserves. It has been dismissed as a hoax or no serious than a case of the flu.
An out-of-town visitor is the first known individual who brought the Covid-19 coronavirus to my community. This visitor who tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus ignored his doctor’s advice to self-quarantine and visited a cousin who lived in the community. The visitor infected the cousin with whom he stayed and an unknown number of attendees of a church service that he attended.
Like many communities in the United States my community has been divided over the pandemic. While health experts warned that the virus was a serious threat to the health and safety of US communities, one group of residents chose to listen to a White House that downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic and dismissed the need for precautionary measures such as face masks and social distancing. This same group of residents ignored community leaders when they urged them to take the pandemic more seriously. The doctor who was the White House COVID-10 coordinator at that time has since then admitted that the US death toll from the virus could have been mitigated with earlier action. Most deaths could have been avoided. Politics were given priority over people’s lives.
On Friday CDC director Rochelle Wolensky expressed deep concern about the present trajectory of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Scientists have yet to determine whether individuals who have been vaccinated against the virus can become infected asymptomatically and whether they can transmit the virus to others. Scientists have found evidence that saliva may play a role in the transmission of the virus. They are studying the emergence of a “double mutant” variant of the virus in India. On Wednesday India reported a sharpest rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths this year. On Sunday Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical advisor, warned that the US may be facing a new COVID-19 surge as the number of daily cases remain on an unacceptably high plateau.
There are limits to what those who have been fully vaccinated can do. They cannot resume their life exactly as they lived it before the pandemic. One of the things that they are advised against doing is attending medium-sized or large gatherings. The AARP has put together a list of what those are fully vaccinated can do and cannot do, according to the CDC and other health experts. As far as traveling is concerned, the CDC is advising Americans that the best way that they can protect themselves and others is to stay home.
Except for the Easter lilies, Easter is my favorite church festival of the year—a joyful celebration of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. (I am allergic to Easter lily pollen as are many liturgical ministers, servers, and choristers.) It is a celebration to which I have always looked forward—the hymns, the anthems, the solemn procession with candles and incense, the baptisms, and the Holy Communion. But I see no point in allowing such an occasion to become an opportunity for the COVID-19 coronavirus to spread. It is a time to acknowledge with praise and thanksgiving our Lord’s rising from the dead and the promise of new life for ourselves that accompanies his resurrection. We do not honor our risen Lord when we permit our gatherings to spread suffering and death.
An out-of-town visitor is the first known individual who brought the Covid-19 coronavirus to my community. This visitor who tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus ignored his doctor’s advice to self-quarantine and visited a cousin who lived in the community. The visitor infected the cousin with whom he stayed and an unknown number of attendees of a church service that he attended.
Like many communities in the United States my community has been divided over the pandemic. While health experts warned that the virus was a serious threat to the health and safety of US communities, one group of residents chose to listen to a White House that downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic and dismissed the need for precautionary measures such as face masks and social distancing. This same group of residents ignored community leaders when they urged them to take the pandemic more seriously. The doctor who was the White House COVID-10 coordinator at that time has since then admitted that the US death toll from the virus could have been mitigated with earlier action. Most deaths could have been avoided. Politics were given priority over people’s lives.
On Friday CDC director Rochelle Wolensky expressed deep concern about the present trajectory of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Scientists have yet to determine whether individuals who have been vaccinated against the virus can become infected asymptomatically and whether they can transmit the virus to others. Scientists have found evidence that saliva may play a role in the transmission of the virus. They are studying the emergence of a “double mutant” variant of the virus in India. On Wednesday India reported a sharpest rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths this year. On Sunday Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical advisor, warned that the US may be facing a new COVID-19 surge as the number of daily cases remain on an unacceptably high plateau.
There are limits to what those who have been fully vaccinated can do. They cannot resume their life exactly as they lived it before the pandemic. One of the things that they are advised against doing is attending medium-sized or large gatherings. The AARP has put together a list of what those are fully vaccinated can do and cannot do, according to the CDC and other health experts. As far as traveling is concerned, the CDC is advising Americans that the best way that they can protect themselves and others is to stay home.
Except for the Easter lilies, Easter is my favorite church festival of the year—a joyful celebration of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. (I am allergic to Easter lily pollen as are many liturgical ministers, servers, and choristers.) It is a celebration to which I have always looked forward—the hymns, the anthems, the solemn procession with candles and incense, the baptisms, and the Holy Communion. But I see no point in allowing such an occasion to become an opportunity for the COVID-19 coronavirus to spread. It is a time to acknowledge with praise and thanksgiving our Lord’s rising from the dead and the promise of new life for ourselves that accompanies his resurrection. We do not honor our risen Lord when we permit our gatherings to spread suffering and death.
Our Lord not only reiterated God’s command to love him with every atom of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves but he also taught that we should love each other with the same kind of sacrificial love that he showed us and tied our love of God to our love of others, including those we see or who see themselves as our enemies. As Jesus reminded those who flocked to hear him, God desires mercy, not sacrifice. The kindness, compassion, generosity, and forgiveness that we show our fellow human beings matter far more to God than does our sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise.
The locator devices on our cellphones are showing growing activity in the US population, activity that exceeds the level of activity that the country needs to maintain to safeguard the population against the further transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus and its variants. This has been attributed to spring fever, as well as to covid fatigue and covid denial.
The locator devices on our cellphones are showing growing activity in the US population, activity that exceeds the level of activity that the country needs to maintain to safeguard the population against the further transmission of the COVID-19 coronavirus and its variants. This has been attributed to spring fever, as well as to covid fatigue and covid denial.
Spring fever, however, is often accompanied by impatience, restiveness, and a lack of good judgment and sense. It can lead to us making unwise decisions that may not only harm ourselves but also harm others. When we are still trying to find our way out of the woods. it is not something that we want to catch. It may result in others and ourselves catching something far worse.
Now is not the time to show how brave, courageous, fearless, or strong that we are. The COVID-19 coronavirus has no regard for how we see ourselves or others sees us. The virus is very single minded for a mindless submicroscopic infectious agent. Find a host and replicate. Find a host and replicate. Find a host and replicate. If it seriously damages or kills the host in the process of replicating is of no concern to the virus.
Now is the time to protect our loved ones, our church, our community, and ourselves. In the midst of a pandemic an excess of caution is a far better choice than the absence of caution.
Now is not the time to show how brave, courageous, fearless, or strong that we are. The COVID-19 coronavirus has no regard for how we see ourselves or others sees us. The virus is very single minded for a mindless submicroscopic infectious agent. Find a host and replicate. Find a host and replicate. Find a host and replicate. If it seriously damages or kills the host in the process of replicating is of no concern to the virus.
Now is the time to protect our loved ones, our church, our community, and ourselves. In the midst of a pandemic an excess of caution is a far better choice than the absence of caution.
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