Warren Throckmorton, a Psychology Professor from Grove City College, has noticed an increase in positive coronavirus cases in Georgia as houses of worship conduct in-person services.
Throckmorton, who has been tracking the spread of COVID-19 in churches across the U.S., asked the Georgia Department of Public Health for insight on a number of recent church-related outbreaks.
As of Aug. 18, public information representative Nancy Nydam told Throckmorton, “there have been 49 COVID-19 church/place of worship outbreak investigations reported to DPH.”
In light of the investigations, Nydam stated that there have been 517 reported cases as well as 91 hospitalizations and 15 deaths.
As of the time of this writing, Georgia has reported 241,677 cases, 4,794 deaths and 927 recoveries. The fatality rate is at 2 percent.
While Throckmorton says that outbreaks in Georgia-based churches have been a “small fraction”, he cautioned that new cases “may be accelerating.”
A report by the Georgia Department of Public Health found that out of the 110 outbreaks in Georgia between August 6 and August 12, 8 churches were among the locations where outbreaks occurred.
“These outbreaks are occurring in settings where people are physically congregating and underscore the need for distancing and source control,” the report said.
“As churches have come together in person, outbreaks have increased,” Throckmorton noted.”…
… Read More
Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.