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Church and Coronavirus Is a Dangerous Combination
Data shows religious services are risky for Covid-19 spread. Yet places of worship are opening and the CDC is removing warnings.
The debate around how to handle places of worship in the pandemic is becoming fraught. President Donald Trump recently said that churches are essential and that governors nationwide should allow them to reopen. The Supreme Court is set to decide on a religious freedom claim from a church in California. Churches, synagogues, and mosques in more than half of U.S. states are already allowed to open, though they remain under physical distancing rules.
Most recently, the White House and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed warnings for reopening houses of worship on the CDC website that said singing in choirs can spread the virus, the Washington Post reported on Thursday evening.
The Post reports that the CDC previously had recommendations for religious groups that said they should “consider suspending or at least decreasing use of choir/musical ensembles and congregant singing, chanting, or reciting during services or other programming, if appropriate within the faith tradition.” This was due to the fact that singing has been shown to spread Covid-19.
