[See Updates at end of post for breaking news.] Social distancing is coming to America. It’s the latest coronavirus-inspired buzzword, but it reflects the prudent measures that individuals and organizations are now being forced to take in light of current developments. In South Korea, the virus cluster was a megachurch. In Washington State, it was a retirement care facility. In Massachussetts, the virus cluster was a corporate meeting that went ahead rather than cancelling (oops) and now 70 of the 92 cases in Massachussetts are linked to that corporate meeting. No big meetings. Don’t shake hands. Keep your distance. Revenge of the introverts.
No meetings? No handshakes? What’s a Mormon to do? In Washington State, at least two stakes in the Seattle area have cancelled all church meetings this coming Sunday. In light of the governor’s impending directive to cancel public gatherings of more than 250 people in the greater Seattle area, more LDS units may follow suit. The Seattle temple is closed at least until April 1. I expect that LDS stakes and temples in other afflicted areas will be forced to follow suit in coming weeks. On the national scene, the big question is whether the NCAA basketball tournament will go forward (likely yes) and whether fans will be allowed into arenas to watch the games (up for debate). March Madness might become March Sickness.
The other big LDS impact of social distancing is the missionary force scattered around the globe. Their job is more or less to close social distance with dozens or hundreds of people a day, so obviously this is a problem. The simple problem is to minimize their exposure, which means just tell them to stay home and play video games contact people on social media. The tougher question is when to reassign missionaries to other areas or send almost-finished missionaries home just a bit early. The Church has been taking some reasonable actions along these lines, but doesn’t always share all the details publicly. Readers can contribute any actions they are aware of. Let’s hope a returning and self-quarantining missionary who makes an exception for a homecoming talk at the ward doesn’t become the Utah virus cluster bomb.
Let’s think about the long-term impact of social distancing for a minute. Maybe some businesses and employees will find working from home actually works and some will stick with it. Maybe some churchgoers will find that online church is actually a more uplifting experience than in-person church and stick with it. (I suspect this is one of the reasons LDS policy prohibits broadcasting LDS services online.) Universities may be forced to accelerate their online offerings. Maybe some socially reserved types will go Full Introvert and shun public gatherings of all kinds. The losers here will be sports events, movie theaters, church congregations, school events if not schools themselves, and so forth. The winners will be everything online. Stock tip: Buy Amazon.
Whether all of this resonates with you or not may depend on where you live. I have relatives in Seattle, so I’ve been following it very closely. Locally, here in Wyoming, not only do LDS meetings continue but there is a joint meeting of the two wards scheduled for this Sunday — because who could expect the visiting Mission President to speak twice on the same day? It’s followed by a Linger Longer munch-fest where both congregations can mingle, cough, and sniffle together. Granted, there are no cases in this community yet, but the optics aren’t good. We should not be planning on how to get more people together in one room at the moment. Never thought I would skip a Linger Longer, but this might be it. Linger Longer, meet Early Exit.
UPDATE — This just in at the Newsroom and by email blast from the Church:
- General Conference adjustments – “To help control this problem, we feel it wise to limit attendance at the upcoming April 2020 General Conference. We plan to conduct all five sessions of that conference at the Conference Center. General authorities, general officers and their spouses, musicians, choirs, technicians, and others will participate as assigned. But, proceedings of the conference will be distributed throughout the world via technology only. The public will not be admitted in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, or in stake centers or meetinghouses in areas where contagion is a concern.” (Emphasis added.)
- Large gatherings – “After considering the counsel of governmental, ecclesiastical, and medical leaders around the world and our own prayerful reflection, we will postpone stake and leadership conferences and other large gatherings in Church Areas where illness caused by COVID-19 is a challenge, including, Asia, Asia North, Europe, Europe East, [and] all Areas in the United States and Canada.
“These temporary adjustments will take effect March 16, 2020. Large gatherings in other areas of the world may continue as usual unless directed otherwise by Area Presidencies, who counsel with their leaders.
“In relation to weekly worship services, activities and other meetings, members should follow the guidance of their local leaders, who will receive direction in the usual manner.” - Missionary Training Centers – “Beginning March 16, 2020, all missionaries scheduled to enter missionary training centers in Provo, Utah, or Preston, England, will be trained remotely by video conference. Other missionary training centers will continue to function as usual, but they will not receive any missionaries from regions where government officials are restricting activity. Missionaries from those areas will also be trained by video conference.”
I was talking to my mom the other day and all she could talk about was how terrible it was that some missionaries were going to be getting reassigned or even forced to return home early. I had to remind her that 3K people have DIED in China and Italy has more than 500 that have died and I felt that was a lot bigger of a deal.
And they just announced the change to General Conference (once again – a prudent move even if you argue it isn’t absolutely required).
I do think that if this plays out even less than worst-case, there are going to be longer term ramifications. Some in the church and much outside of it.
This is pretty snarky, but wouldn’t it be great if God spoke to some person on earth and told them some real details on how this whole pandemic was going to play out? Maybe some advance warning of certain areas, how to best protect ourselves from this, and let us know if this is a plague from Him because we didn’t use his name enough on church correspondance or were partaking with our left hands, and other (apparantly) more important things that are on His mind.
This just in from the NCAA, an announcement from the NCAA President: “Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance.” So no fans at March Madness or General Conference (April Madness).
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2020-03-11/ncaa-president-mark-emmert-releases-statement-limiting
How many civil liberties will we relinquish over a common flu?
I’m surprised the Church hasn’t suspended the passing of the Sacrament—especially in areas where there are Covid-19 cases. Actually, if I were in a high risk health category I think I would not partake during flu season….
For the vast majority of Church members, having an audience-free GC makes no difference to the experience. Most of us consume the event through a screen exclusively anyway. Granted, there will be no one to chuckle at their lame quips. But for most of us, General Conference is a bad TV show that comes on twice a year with a slowly rotating cast of dull characters.
Travis what civil liberties are you talking about?
So, General Conference is going to be a literal echo chamber. The jokes just write themselves.
Steak conferences are still happening this Sunday, but not after… I’m not sure why they would time it that way.
In non-church news, USU is cancelling all activities (sports, theater, etc) and I think classes are going online. Unfortunately, some classes do not lend themselves well to online instruction. Labs, recitation, music, many other classes are not easy to convert to online with no notice.
For those in denial saying this is a common flu, we have statistical evidence that this is at least 10 times more deadly than the common flu. If health officials simply allowed COVID-19 to go unchecked, it would overwhelm health systems, which do not have enough capacity to attend to all affected by COVID-19. Absenteeism from work would cause economic problems as well. This is a systemic crisis. Governments have to intervene to stop the spread of COVID-19 now.
Rockwell, that is the right type of conference….the STEAKconference! I think church needs to cancel church meetings of all sorts. Especially here in Europe!
Just had our first ward activity cancelled (in Michigan). Out of curiosity, I checked the online bulletin for the local Roman Catholic parish I sometimes attend. Regarding Mass, they have stopped drinking from the communal cup(s) and also asked parishioners not to shake hands during the sign of peace. However, Friday-night fish fry dinners are still going at this point.
In the last day or two, arts organizations and companies I allow to send me marketing emails have been putting out their official statements. Common threads: following CDC guidelines, ramping up their cleaning procedures, instructing employees & customers who feel sick to stay home. The most novel idea I’ve seen: Starbucks, potentially on a store-by-store basis, is considering limiting seating to “improve social distancing.”
Common thread in the news: especially with regard to testing, the US is behind the curve on dealing with this outbreak.
Thanks for the comments, everyone.
Events of the day quickly outran the content of this post, so I’m going to close comments and let the discussion continue in other places.
Wash your hands a lot and don’t go to large gatherings.