Stanislaus faith leaders unite in call for masks to fight COVID

To Our County Leaders and the Communities we Serve,

Over the last several weeks we have seen alarming increases in COVID-19 infection rates in the city of Modesto and Stanislaus County. As faith leaders, some of us have witnessed the effects of this virus on vulnerable persons in our congregations and many of us have been watching how this virus has spread and overwhelmed communities across the nation.

COVID-19 has caused so many disruptions in peoples’ lives, including mental, physical and financial stress. While we all look forward to a time when our congregations can come together again in person, we also understand the risk to the health and well-being of our communities. We cannot return to sustainable economic health if we neglect the health of the people who live in our county.

Many studies now show the effectiveness of wearing masks in partnership with physical distancing to reduce the spread of the virus, particularly as we now know that the virus can spread pre-symptomatically and asymptomatically; that a person can spread the virus without knowing they are infected.

Countries and communities that have encouraged mask wearing along with physical distancing have shown that this can be effective in reducing or controlling the spread of the virus. We also understand that when leaders model the desired behavior, they can greatly influence the adoption of those behaviors.

We, the undersigned faith community leaders, appeal to people of all backgrounds, spiritual or otherwise, in Stanislaus County to wear masks and practice physical distancing, sacrificing a small measure of comfort for the sake of saving lives. All of our spiritual paths embrace the tenet of loving one another as oneself and caring for one another.

Out of compassion for our families, friends, neighbors, and community, please join us in continuing to take action to prevent the further spread of the pandemic by wearing masks in public and maintaining physical distancing.

Sincerely,

Lori Wong, Wayne Bridegroom and 15 others