A California pastor is threatening to sue a court that interrupts institutional services at his church, while Georgia reports that a 7-year-old is the youngest person in the state to have died from the coronavirus.
Pastor Rob McCoy of the Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park, about 45 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, said in a livestream posted on the church’s YouTube page Friday night that he will “break” a court order .
The Temporary Restriction Order by a Ventura County Judge bans McCoy from offering indoor services at his church as another indoor facility in the county until Aug. 31.
McCoy could still be a service outside, according to the order. But he said during the livestream that there are no public parks large enough to accommodate 1,500 congrgants.
He also cited safety concerns about threats made to churchgoers during the pandemic and an allergy to church staff members to sunlight as reasons why this order would be broken this weekend.
“We’ll be open this Sunday,” McCoy said. “We plan to have services at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.”
California has seen an uptick in coronavirus deaths, though the number of new cases has declined slightly over the past two weeks, according to an NBC News report. The state on Thursday reported 8,436 new cases of the virus, bringing the total to 538,416. More than 10,000 people have been killed by the virus, according to state data.
In Ventura County, there were a total of 8,245 coronavirus cases and 82 deaths on Friday, according to county data.
Georgia officials announced this week that the virus killed a 7-year-old African American boy, the youngest person still to die of COVID-19 in the state.
The gruesome news came a day before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that black and Hispanic children were disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
The boy had attended a local church where he came in contact with two elderly people who tested positive for the virus, and who have since died, Chatham County Coroner told Dr. Bill Wessinger of NBC affiliate WSAV in Savannah.
The child had no underlying health status and had a seizure in the shower before going to an ambulance, the coroner was told. He later died at the hospital.
“Every COVID-19 death we report is tragic, but to lose someone so young is especially heartbreaking,” said Drs. Lawton Davis, director of the Coastal Health District of Georgia, in a statement.
“We know that older people and those with underlying conditions are at higher risk for complications, but this is a disease that everyone should take seriously,” he said.
Pastor Brian Kemp said in a statement, “The death of this child is absolutely tragic, and we pray for their loved ones in this difficult time.”
Georgia has had a total of 209,004 positive cases of coronavirus and 1,969 deaths, according to state data.
Residents of the small town of Sturgis in South Dakota have been dealing with what may be one of the largest public gatherings in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic, as thousands of cyclists arrived for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, a 10-day meeting.
Those attending the rally are encouraged, but not required, to wear face masks. The governor of South Dakota has never issued a stay-at-home mandate as a mask mandate for the state.
As of Saturday morning, South Dakota reported a total of 9,371 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 144 deaths, according to the state Department of Health website.
The coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 162,000 people in the United States since the end of February. New York, New Jersey and California have seen the most deaths. Approximately 5 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed nationwide, according to NBC News’ tally.
