[Farm93]

The POTUS message was designed to create a blue state governor vs POTUS event and distract from the 100K death milestone that could happen over the long weekend.  I can only guess we will see more and more of these types of declarations in the next 5 months as POTUS tries to create a reason for people to vote for him despite his handling of the COVID pandemic.

The easiest way for a governor to address this newly created conflict will be to allow the churches to open, but then require they operate consistent with other entities in a similar phase.   Everyone must be 6 feet apart, capacity limited at 25% of stated capacity, everyone must wear masks, etc. etc.   I think most states were already pretty close to opening up churches anyway, so perhaps that was also a factor in President Trump's decision to make his declaration today.

I personally would not jump into a church, but I suspect it is probably a similar risk to eating in a restaurant.   It is hard for me to believe eating at TGIF is in some way more essential than opening a church.   The announcement is unfortunate because USA churches will have all of the challenges identified elsewhere around the globe, and the announcement will likely lower the use of masks as people may feel the worst is over now.

[Farm93]

The POTUS message was designed to create a blue state governor vs POTUS event and distract from the 100K death milestone that could happen over the long weekend.  I can only guess we will see more and more of these types of declarations in the next 5 months as POTUS tries to create a reason for people to vote for him despite his handling of the COVID pandemic.

The easiest way for a governor to address this newly created conflict will be to allow the churches to open, but then require they operate consistent with other entities in a similar phase.   Everyone must be 6 feet apart, capacity limited at 25% of stated capacity, everyone must wear masks, etc. etc.   I think most states were already pretty close to opening up churches anyway, so perhaps that was also a factor in President Trump's decision to make his declaration today.

I personally would not jump into a church, but I suspect it is probably a similar risk to eating in a restaurant.   It is hard for me to believe eating at TGIF is in some way more essential than opening a church.   The announcement is unfortunate because USA churches will have all of the challenges identified elsewhere around the globe, and the announcement will likely lower the use of masks as people may feel the worst is over now.