Three deaths and at least 144 cases have been linked directly to a wedding that was officiated by a pastor that called masks a part of a "socialistic platform." The said event was held in a church that defied the imposed social distancing protocols, which has now become the center of Maine's biggest coronavirus outbreak.
On August 7, pastor Todd Bell of the Sanford, Maine's Calvary Baptist Church flew on his private plane to officiate a wedding in a rural part of the state. Bell is well known for flying into his ministries in multiple states aboard his aircraft, which he stated was God's will that he do airplane ministries.
The wedding has now tallied around 144 cases of COVID-19 and three of which have already succumbed to the disease, Maine officials reported on Friday.
According to The Daily Beast, one of those who died was an 83-year-old woman who was not present at the wedding but came in contact with one of the guests.
However, despite the outbreak of cases linked to his church, Bell did not stop from continuing his church's activities. He also called on to the worshippers to put their trust in God instead of the government amid the pandemic.
COVID-19 "Super-Spreader"
Dubbed as a 'super-spreader' event, the wedding was graced by 65 guests, which was a clear violation of the state's limit on the number of guests allowed in large gatherings. The celebration was held in Big Moose in and caused the infection of guests, who later passed it on to others, mostly to those who are part of the vulnerable demographic.
Following the wedding, a number of cases then broke out in county jail, a school, and a senior living facility. The said cases in the different areas were all traced back to the wedding as some are wedding guests or have come in direct contact with those who were present.
In the past week alone, the number of cases that have been linked to the event has doubled.
In addition, Penobscot Bay reported that Bell has confirmed that there were six Calvary Baptist families that were present at the wedding. Yet, despite the warning announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calling on the churchgoers to go into quarantine, the church's unmasked operations were still in full blast last week.
In one of his sermons, Bell also advised his worshippers to stay at home if they were sick, however, he also made several statements against vaccination and the imposed protocols against COVID-19. He also called out people who criticized him on social media.
One of those that he particularly targeted in his sermon was a person who stated that Bell may spread COVID-19 in a casino somewhere, calling out the pastor on owning his private plane. Meanwhile, Bell rebutted that a casino would be an ideal place to spread the disease as it is a den of sin.
On the other hand, the religious community of Maine has called to the people to not judge the community fully as several churches and congregations have also placed protocols to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in their area.
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