Church Fined $1,800 For COVID-19 Spread
 

The city next door, New Bedford, has a church that allowed people in without masks and no social distancing. Forty Covid-19 cases have been identified from a single service and up to 180 people were infected.

It’s a small, Latino church in a business district that looks like a storefront. I’m not familiar with the area but people are angry that the church was fined.

Is the commonwealth right to charge the church for disobeying a mandate? I read about this briefly and will read more later on.

The cost to the commonwealth is staggering between investigating the issue and paying for hospitalization.

A fine isn't correct. It should be a cease and desist for spreading disease.

Usually the state and church don’t clash. The fine will be on top of the order that they stay closed.

Knowing what kind of church it was they should have sent in ICE and took the whole place down.

Time to outlaw christianity (?) . . .

Gods work..

My first thought was that God is angry for the non-compliance!

I just hope this action will make people take this seriously. I’m about to read this story online for more information.

https://wbsm.com/new-bedford-church-...fter-outbreak/

The photo is showing the storefront look of the church.

What makes you think the "commonwealth" is "paying for hospitalization"?

Many people can’t afford the hospital and home care required for healing. MassHealth aka Medicaid has limitations on the payments.

If it was massachusetts, they're all likely citizens.

However, now you're against covid spread?

Tons of illegal people in New Bedford. Sixty-plus percent are immigrants and many work on the docks for cash.

I haven’t read the updates for this story yet. I have a friend in Florida until October and AAA told them that they had to avoid New York for their overnight stay. They had to reroute the trip home. When they return, they will have to quarantine for two weeks before they are able to see family again. They live with a grown child and grandchildren. No hugging, no touching, just talk through the door and window.

They weren’t allowed to leave Florida in April as usual. They are home for Thanksgiving and then back to Florida if allowed.

I'm not following the rationale on this story. If this is a church which ministers to people who are all so poor that they can't afford a doctor visit or even subsidized health insurance or even to stay home from work (which is presumably closed?), much less a hospital stay, what kind of institution would fine them $1800? That seems monstrous.

If most of the parishioners are paying for insurance and healthcare for themselves, then the idea that there is a cost to the "commonwealth" (is this vernacular people use in 2020?) is not terribly accurate.

Massachusetts is not a state but a commonwealth. I didn’t partake in this decision and can’t be blamed!

The church can afford a fine. It seems monstrous but they broke the mandate. The pandemic is real and the rate of infection is rising.

I’m assuming that those who believe in god know that he/she is everywhere and not just in a holy building.