Philadelphia pastor whose church hosted coronavirus testing has tested positive
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One Philadelphia pastor whose church hosted community COVID-19 testings has now tested positive for the novel disease.
Rev. Dr. Alyn E. Waller is a senior pastor of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, which began testing community residents last Monday at its Cheltenham Avenue location, a news outlet reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
Despite contracting the virus, the pastor said he would offer virtual preaching and lead Bible study.
“Everything is going to be fine. I believe that this is part of the assignment,” Waller said in a Facebook video. “I believe I am supposed to go through this with you and with people.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He reported feeling no symptoms and is in quarantine taking proper precautions. Waller also said in the video that he has encountered the disease “relatively healthy and without a lot of the comorbidities.”
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“I think we have tried to be responsible in the way that we lived and the way that we have used masks and so forth and yet I tested positive,” Waller said in the video. “That is why testing is so important.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church coordinated with the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium to offer a drive-thru testing site on Monday at the church. The line was reportedly cut off after 350 tests due to testing availability, NBC10 Philadelphia reported.
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In the neighborhood, 35 percent of tested residents have tested positive, Waller told NBC10. That figure stands without widespread testing, according to the news outlet.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Studies within the past month continue to affirm the virus’ disproportionate impact on blacks.
An analysis by The Washington Post reported "counties that are majority-black have three times the rate of infections and almost six times the rate of deaths as counties where white residents are in the majority."
Further studies are ongoing to confirm existing data, understand and reduce the health disparity of coronavirus on minority communities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.