https://apnews.com/6c8068e57e6d7fe80445f9f04bbd65ff

Pastor arrested for violating rules amid virus outbreak

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials have arrested the pastor of a megachurch after detectives say he held two Sunday services with hundreds of people and violated a safer-at-home order in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

According to jail records, Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne turned himself in to authorities Monday afternoon in Hernando County, where he lives. He was charged with unlawful assembly and violation of a public health emergency order. Bail was set at $500, according to the jail’s website, and he was released after posting bond.

Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a news conference Monday that he negotiated with the attorney of Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne to turn himself in to authorities in Hernando County. His church is located in Tampa.

“Not only did the church comply with the administrative order regarding six-foot distancing, it went above and beyond any other business to ensure the health and safety of the people,” said a statement from Liberty Counsel, Howard-Browne’s law firm. “Contrary to Sheriff Chronister’s allegation that Pastor Howard-Browne was ’reckless,” the actions of Hillsborough Country and the Hernando County Sheriff are discriminatory against religion and church gatherings.”

Howard-Browne isn’t alone in refusing to curtail in-person worship services despite public health orders designed to stop the virus from spreading. Churches in Ohio, Kentucky and Louisiana have continued to invite worshippers in recent days as at least a half-dozen states offer some degree of exemption for faith in their orders to shutter nonessential activity during the pandemic.

Chronister said his command staff met with The River at Tampa Bay Church leaders about the danger they are putting themselves — and their congregation — in by not maintaining appropriate social distancing, but Howard-Browne held the services. The Sheriff’s Office also placed a digital sign on the road near the church driveway that said “practice social distancing.”

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https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/03/30/Israeli-PM-Benjamin-Netanyahu-Video-shows-no-need-for-quarantine/7921585588604/

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu: Video shows no need for quarantine

March 30 (UPI) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his aides should not have to quarantine even though an adviser tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said Monday.

Netanyahu's office said cameras in the Knesset showed that the prime minister and staffers didn't spend enough time near the infected aide, parliamentary adviser Rivka Paluch, to require quarantine.

An epidemiological study was conducted after Paluch tested positive, forcing Netanyahu to temporarily isolate himself until it was completed. The results have not yet been released.

"We would like to stress that the prime minister and those around him strictly adhere to health minister regulations, in conjunction with his personal physician, and [he] holds most of his conferences via video," Netanyahu's office said. "The prime minister and his surroundings will keep obeying health ministry guidelines."

Doctors tested Paluch for the coronavirus disease after her husband was admitted to a hospital with COVID-19 last week. She said she hadn't been close to Netanyahu and doesn't believe she infected anyone.

Netanyahu and Paluch were not seen in the Knesset footage in the same room for any extended time over the past two weeks. They did, however, meet briefly last week.

The prime minister was tested for the coronavirus but was expected to be retested Monday.