The FOX news broadcast on Friday May 22.
SUNDAY: Hoping to hear church bells ringing on Sunday was instead was cold silence. It turns out churches remain close due to fears of the covid-19. Churches on their own accord remain closed, even though the President ordered the state governor including our Governor Jay Inslee, who issued no response to the Present Trump, ignored the order, and issued the follow guidlines on how he intends to reopen Churches, you guess it. By continued Social distancing, limiting people inside, and out side services. To me if you dictate the number people inside the church you are telling the churches how to conduct thier business. That is now how churches are run! This Governor wants to keep his grasp on how we live in Washington state.
Related news story from the NYT: As Trump Pushes for Reopenings, Congregations Choose Safety Over Haste
The following was issued on Thursday 5/28/29
Gov. Jay Inslee today announced the state’s plan for restarting religious and faith-based services for Phases 1 and 2 of Washington’s “Safe Start” reopening plan.
Beginning today, religious and faith-based organizations in Phase 1 counties may host up to 100 people for outdoor services. In Phase 2, they can host up to 25% of their capacity or 50 individuals, whichever is less, as well as conduct in-home services of five people.
As I have said before, this crisis may affect our ability to physically connect but it should not affect our power to strengthen our emotional connections,” Inslee said during a press conference Wednesday. “I have been heartened to see the ways religious groups found to not only continue to connect, but to give back and to support their communities in this time of suffering and uncertainty.”
The religious services covered include all worship services, religious study classes, religious ceremonies, religious holiday celebrations, weddings, and funerals. Choirs are not allowed, but singing may be done with face coverings. This is because the virus is transmitted through breathing: The louder voices are projected, the farther germs travel.
Organizations will be expected to meet requirements to protect employees, members, visitors and volunteers. These requirements include protections such as social distancing and face coverings, environmental cleaning, providing PPE, and educating employees about COVID-19 and how to prevent transmission.
“We appreciate the governor and his team being thoughtful, prudent and measured as we figure out how to best exit from this pandemic and the lock down. Saving lives, community safety and the well-being of the most vulnerable among us are of paramount importance for Muslims, given the teachings of Islam. Working with the governor’s office and public health officials, we have to collaboratively determine how to best move forward preserving human life and health while also finding a path to safely return to our places of worship, our places of business and our places of enjoyment,” said Aneelah Afzali, executive director of the American Muslim Empowerment Network at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound.
“Faith communities have adapted to stay connected in creative and extraordinary ways during the height of this pandemic. We welcome the governor’s measured and gradual approach to reconvening in person that puts community health first and reminds us that we are all each other’s neighbors,” said Michael Ramos, executive director of the Church Council of Greater Seattle.
“As the three Lutheran bishops in the State of Washington serving in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, we wish to thank and affirm the governor for the thoughtful and cautious way in which he is guiding our State during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Rev. Shelley Bryan Wee, bishop of the Northwest Washington Synod.
“We, the Catholic Bishops of the State of Washington, are encouraged by the governor’s directives today allowing people of faith to resume public worship. These directives are evidence of the good fruits which are born from patient dialogue and commitment to the public health and the common good,” said the Catholic Bishops of the State of Washington in a joint statement.
All organizations are strongly encouraged, but not required, to keep a voluntary log of attendees from services or counseling sessions and retain the information for at least two weeks to assist in contact tracing if an outbreak were to occur.
“We have made tremendous progress, and with Washingtonians united, I know we will continue moving out of this crisis in a safe and healthy way,” Inslee said.
During the press conference, the governor also announced that three new counties have been approved by the secretary of health for variance to move to Phase 2. This brings the total of counties approved to 24.
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(Washington, D.C.) –U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top Democrat on the Senate health committee sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar demanding the Trump Administration update and resubmit the “report” it provided regarding COVID-19 demographic data. Senator Murray made clear the Administration’s submission fails to meet the requirements of the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act and pressed for an updated version with comprehensive demographic data.
“The Report was woefully inadequate and we urge you to rewrite and resubmit the Report in order to meet your statutory obligation. As written, the Report provides no new insight into the devastating health disparities that communities across America are experiencing as a result of COVID-19. In fact, it simply repackages what was already readily available on the internet. Congress included this reporting requirement in the Payment Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act because a comprehensive report is necessary to fully understand and address the disproportionate impact this crisis is having on communities of color and other underserved communities,” wrote Senator Murray.
The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act required the Trump Administration to submit to Congress a report on COVID-19 testing that includes available “data on demographic characteristics, including, in a de-identified and disaggregated manner, race, ethnicity, age, sex, geographic region and other relevant factors of individuals tested for or diagnosed with COVID–19,” and “information on the number and rates of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as a result of COVID–19.”
In response to this requirement, the Trump Administration submitted a four-page document that merely provided a list of links to existing, already public, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention web pages that include limited data on testing and demographic characteristics.
Senator Murray continued, “The Trump Administration must stop ignoring the disproportionate impact this crisis is having on communities of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ communities, and other underserved communities and make some effort to expand the evidence base, as called for by the law. We are disappointed this Congressional mandate has been so carelessly flouted and strongly urge you to resubmit a report that not only includes comprehensive demographic data, but also meets the basic requirements of the law.”
Senator Murray has been focused on ensuring that traditionally marginalized groups that have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic get the relief and assistance they need: last week, Senator Murray pressed Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia on how the Department Labor planned to support communities of color experiencing magnified economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WORLD NEWS HEADLINES:
Unless countries across the world act together now, the COVID-19 pandemic will cause “unimaginable devastation and suffering around the world”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday at a virtual high-level meeting on financing for development.
UN agencies and their global partners are seeking $2.41 billion to fight COVID-19 spread in Yemen while continuing to support millions affected by the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, on Friday, Secretary-General António Guterres will lay a wreath to pay tribute to all the UN blue helmets who have lost their lives since 1948.
Innocent civilians trapped in violence now face “a new and deadly threat” from COVID-19, the UN chief told the Security Council on Wednesday, warning that the pandemic is “amplifying and exploiting the fragilities of our world”.
Further evidence of the unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the global job market has emerged in a new study by the UN labour agency, which on Wednesday said that more than one in six young people have stopped working since the onset of the pandemic.
Despite efforts to stop the harmful promotion of breast-milk substitutes, countries are still falling short in protecting parents from misleading information, according to a new UN report released Wednesday.
A new foundation launched on Wednesday will generate funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners by tapping non-traditional sources, including the public.
FEATURE STORY
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Page 7 Commentary: LONG WAY FROM MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
