Some US megachurches defy social distancing, while others live-stream

Congregants of megachurches in Louisiana, Ohio and Florida attended services in defiance of social distancing orders on Sunday morning, even as politicians and doctors took to weekly news shows to warn of the coronavirus’s spread in the US.

His state’s governor raised alarms on Sunday that hospitals in nearby New Orleans could run out of capacity for breathing machines within a week as the state’s coronavirus death toll has climbed to the fourth-highest in the country. Pastor Spell told local news outlet NBC15 earlier in March that he didn’t believe his congregation was in danger of infection.“It’s not a concern,” he said. “The virus, we believe, is politically motivated. We hold our religious rights dear and we are going to assemble no matter what someone says.”The River Church in Tampa, Florida, also held services on Sunday. Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne posted a livestream of the services on YouTube, showing the sizeable crowd.

The pastor condemned scientific reports about the virus and said that the pandemic was of less concern than the flu, a view that medical experts have disputed.Solid Rock Church in Lebanon, Ohio, with 3,500 members by one recent count, held services on Sunday in defiance of a letter from the local health department urging it not to meet, according to a local news report. The church, in a statement, cited its first amendment right to religious assembly.

South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

South African agency creates advert for US sports websiteThe footage was shot on location in New York but edited in South Africa.
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »

Donald Trump says quarantine 'not necessary' in New York as US death toll crosses 2 000President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would issue a travel warning for the hard-hit New York area to limit the spread of the coronavirus, backing off from an earlier suggestion that he might try to cut off the region entirely.
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »

Trump drops idea of New York lockdown as U.S. death count crosses 2,000The United States has now recorded more than 122,000 cases of the respiratory virus, the most of any country in the world. Cold War by China Why when I look at that picture of realDonaldTrump, I think of this 👇
Source: SowetanLIVE - 🏆 13. / 63 Read more »

US government calls on its citizens in SA to register for repatriationThe Trump administration has ordered all American citizens in SA to come forward to be repatriated so they can be evacuated. I call upon all WHITE and INDIAN MINORITY and to do the HONORABLE thing. Which I was born in the USA!!! Please take me!!! Let them go. Immediately
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »

Spread of coronavirus accelerates in US jails and prisonsInmates have no access to gloves or proper masks and have only cold water to wash their hands, said Hernandez, who was convicted of attempted murder and has served eight years.
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »

Peak US coronavirus death rate likely in two weeks: TrumpUS President Donald Trump said he was extending the government's 'social distancing' guidelines until April 30 to 'slow the spread' of the virus.
Source: eNCA - 🏆 49. / 51 Read more »