News Breaks That 34 Members of an Arkansas Church Are Infected with COVID: My Reflections on the Curiously Slow Learning Curve of Churches

Jose A. Del Real, Julie Zauzmer, and Ava Wallace, "Without guidance from the top, Americans have been left to figure out their own coronavirus solution"

On March 15, Jose A. Del Real, Julie Zauzmer, and Ava Wallace reported for Washington Post, 

In Arkansas, the Rev. Josh King met with the pastors of five other churches on Thursday [i.e., March 12] to decide whether to continue holding service. Their religious beliefs told them that meeting in person to worship each Sunday remained an essential part of their faith, and some of their members signed on to Trump's claims that the media and Democrats were overblowing the danger posed by the virus. 

"One pastor said half of his church is ready to lick the floor, to prove there's no actual virus," said King, lead pastor at Second Baptist church in Conway, Ark.

Good Advice from Healthcare Workers in Belfast to Flatten the Curve: STAY AT HOME!

This is an excellent little video shared yesterday on Facebook by David Honeyford of Glenavy, Co. Antrim, Ireland. In case its message is hard to decipher or it seems muddled,* it boils down to the following as advice for flattening the pandemic curve, STAY AT HOME!

*Sarcasm alert

My Reflections as Minnesota and Vermont Declare Grocery Clerks Emergency Workers

Hell yeah, now make it national https://t.co/XEad0wx53j

— Clara Jeffery (@ClaraJeffery) March 19, 2020

The people putting their lives on the line right now to serve the rest of us are medical personnel and also grocery store workers and people delivering goods in trucks all over the country. The latter two groups are often significantly underpaid and have few or no benefits, including paid sick leave.

Media Vita in Morte Sumus: Pandemic Wave Is Now Cresting in the US, with Dire Results Predicted by Experts for Weeks Now

Please remember: you may “feel fine,” but you can still pass the illness on. We are all connected.⬇️ https://t.co/QCwkIG7cGq

— Jo Scott-Coe (@joscottcoe) March 17, 2020

My apologies for being slow to post. I am dealing with the shock of learning from my brother that his partner was hospitalized this weekend for pneumonia, and is on a respirator with sedation.

Today, they got the results of diagnostic tests, and his partner has COVID-19.

What We're Seeing Now: Unmasking of What "Pro-Life Politics and Religion in US Have Always Meant

The photo of grafitti on a wall in Munich is by Peter Kneffel, AP, by way of The Guardian 

I'm continuing to provide information and commentary about the coronavirus pandemic, and, in particular, about the response to it in my country, the United States. I'm doing this because so much disinformation is circulating — "It's just the flu," "All these preparations and precautions are ridiculous panicky reactions infringing on my liberty," "It's a Democratic ruse to re-impeach my president," "It's a foreign virus and a foreign plot to bring my country down," "The death rate is minimal right now and this shows us that the concerns are overblown." And on and on.

"Smoking Gun: Trump Suppressed Coronavirus Testing to Keep the Numbers Low and Boost His Chances at Reelection" — More Commentary

This is the smoking gun.

Trump suppressed coronavirus testing to keep the numbers low and boost his chances at reelection. https://t.co/5zneoVL62T

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) March 13, 2020

In Trump Administration Response to a Pandemic, the "Pro-Life" Agenda Is Unmasked: Hasn't Been About a Meaningful Ethic of Life at All

Top headling, Huffington Post, noon, 11 March 2020.

AP, "Nearly 1,000 People Diagnosed With Coronavirus In U.S.":

The number of COVID-19 cases reported across the country is expected to grow in coming days as testing efforts expand.