‘I have broken no laws.’ How defiant Northern California church thwarted COVID-19 trackers
Last month, a Butte County church defied Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide order and opened its doors for services, despite warnings that people without symptoms could unwittingly spread the disease to others in crowded spaces.
When health officials discovered that one of the parishioners had indeed tested positive for COVID-19, potentially exposing more than 160 people at the church, they dispatched a team to track and contain the disease.
They didn’t get far. The county’s efforts were stymied almost immediately because the church and most of its members refused to share information with health officials, a Sacramento Bee review of county emails and interviews with officials show.
As a result, the six health workers assigned to the “contact tracing” investigation were only able to speak to 25 of the 163 parishioners who attended and the church — just 15 percent who were at the Mother’s Day service.
The county’s health director says her staff has no idea how many of the parishioners and their close contacts got tested. It’s not clear how many quarantined themselves.
The pastor, Michael Jacobsen, declined an interview with The Bee on Friday, but he was unapologetic in an online sermon last month as the contact tracing investigation was underway.
“I don’t feel like the decision we made was irresponsible,” he said during his sermon.
While the county appears to have avoided a major outbreak, the failed investigation of Palermo Bible Family Church case illustrates a particular challenge for county health departments in areas where mistrust of government institutions runs high, and why America’s system of largely voluntary measures to contain the coronavirus will only work if the public chooses to participate.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/coronavirus/article243555117.html#storylink=cpy
I will not comply