Outbreak of coronavirus at Community Bible Church in Waterford
Six parishioners from Community Bible Church in Waterford tested positive for COVID-19, after participating in one or two outdoor Bible study groups the week of June 15.
“On June 18, one of our parishioners notified staff that they had tested positive for COVID,” said Rich Wisely, senior pastor.
Wisely said after learning about the parishioner’s symptoms, all possible contacts in the Bible groups were notified and referred for COVID-19 testing and recommended to self-quarantine. The Bible groups had fewer than 12 people and the exposed individuals attended one or both groups.
Independently on the same day, a second parishioner notified the church that one of her household members was hospitalized with pneumonia, and she and her relative also tested positive for COVID-19.
A total of 16 parishioners, all of whom are in the high-risk age group, and nine staff members have undergone testing. Two of the staff members, including Wisely, are in the high-risk age group, and none of them have symptoms as of June 28.
“I believe the test results for the parishioners have all come back,” said Wisely., “All of the staff testing should be back by Monday or Tuesday.”
None of the six COVID-positive church members have required hospitalization.
All active cases are currently under the care of their health care providers and are at various stages of recovery from symptoms that have ranged from minor to moderate, according to the press release.
He said, “Right now, everyone is pulling through.”
Wisely said one challenge is that senior citizens think COVID-19 is a death sentence for them because of what they see in the news, so they may not consider that they have COVID if they have mild respiratory symptoms.
Stanislaus County public health was also notified about the church exposures and a public health nurse assisted with contact tracing and communication with church leadership and members.
“We have been pleased with the swift and professional response we received from the county,” Wisely said in the press release.
He also said, “We pray for the public health staff every day because we know what a tough job they have.”
Community Bible Church has not held in-person services since March, but instead has been live streaming Sunday services. It has hired a professional cleaning service, in addition to its regular maintenance staff, to ensure that its facilities are cleaned according to county public health and CDC guidelines.
Wisely said he wanted to tell about his church’s experience to help others.
He said, “I am hopeful that our story will encourage other churches and faith leaders to take more seriously the warnings about this virus and the guidance that the county had been trying to share. We played it according to the book, and we still got hit.”
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published June 28, 2020 at 10:08 AM.
