The World and Everything in It — March 17, 2020

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Efforts to contain the coronavirus are helping slow its spread. Today, we’ll survey what several states are doing.

DESANTIS: We want to do all we can to prevent this virus from affecting those communities who are most at risk from it.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also we’ll talk to a doctor about what social distancing means in practical terms. 

Plus WORLD’s reporters in the field tell us what travel is like during this pandemic.

And commentator Les Sillars on how far compassion reaches.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, March 17th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Bay area authorities issue “shelter in place” order » Authorities in the San Francisco Bay area are placing six counties on lockdown—issuing “shelter in place” orders for nearly 7 million residents. Effective today, officials are prohibiting non-essential travel and they’re closing down non-essential businesses.  

Santa Clara health officer Dr. Sara Cody emphasized that pharmacies and grocery stores will remain open. 

CODY: Food can be ordered from restaurants for delivery or carryout. Gas stations, banks, and hardware stores will remain open. And essential government services and essential infrastructure will continue to operate. 

There are nearly 300 cases of COVID-19 in the Bay area. Cody said Santa Clara county is the epicenter of the outbreak, and health officials determined the Bay area is reaching a tipping point. 

The “shelter in place” order is the strongest measure yet within the United States. But an increasing number of states and cities have begun to tighten restrictions, such as shutting down dine-in restaurants and bars. 

And in another sign of COVID-19’s impact on the nation, the Supreme Court on Monday postponed oral arguments. That marks the first time the court has delayed arguments over a public health matter since the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918. 

White House announces new coronavirus guidelines » President Trump and other top officials again briefed reporters at the White House Monday about the national response to the coronavirus.  

AUDIO: I want to thank everybody for being here today.

The president said in an effort to get ahead of the curve, his administration is announcing new guidelines to help slow the spread of the virus.  

TRUMP: My administration is recommending that all Americans, including the young and healthy, work to engage in schooling from home when possible, avoid gathering in groups of more than 10 people, avoid discretionary travel, and avoid eating and drinking in bars, restaurants, and public food courts. 

The president also conceded that the country could be slipping into a coronavirus recession, but he said his focus right now is on halting the virus. He also speculated that the worst of the coronavirus impact could last until July or August. 

That likely contributed to another horrendous day on Wall Street, which again had its worst day since 1987. The Dow plummeted 3,000 points despite the Fed’s efforts on Sunday to calm the markets.

Congress wrestles with coronavirus relief plans » The coronavirus relief bill just passed by the House faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas said he doesn’t think the House bill will pass in the upper chamber.  

COTTON: It doesn’t go far enough. It doesn’t go far enough. It doesn’t cover enough workers and their families. It doesn’t do enough to make sure that we eliminate any financial incentive that anyone may have to be at work or other public places because they’re worried about buying groceries or making the car payment or paying the rent. 

The House bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support over the weekend. It would expand access to free testing, extend sick leave benefits, and provide a billion dollars in food aid.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling for a “comprehensive” aid package. He said it should contain “significant” steps to help families and businesses as workplaces shutter, schools send students home, and health systems brace to provide emergency care.

For now, the Senate is stalled, waiting on the House to send its package of sick pay and other resources. That was approved early Saturday with President Trump’s support, but quickly became tangled in technical issues.

That package comes on top of an $8.3 billion in initial aid approved at the start of the month. But all sides, the House, Senate and White House, say it’s not nearly enough to handle what’s coming.

COVID-19 vaccine trial underway as scientists race to find treatment » A COVID-19 vaccine trial is now underway, while scientists also rush to find an effective treatment for the disease. WORLD Radio’s Anna Johansen has more. 

ANNA JOHANSEN, REPORTER: The first participants in a clinical vaccine trial have received an experimental dose at a research institute in Washington state. But officials caution that it will likely take a year to 18 months to fully validate any potential vaccine. The National Institutes of Health is funding the trial, which started Monday at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle.

Meantime, scientists are also racing to find an effective treatment for COVID-19. They hope to reduce the duration and severity of the disease. Among the possibilities, Gilead Science is testing its antiviral drug remdesivir, which has shown promise against other viruses, including one type of coronavirus. 

And Johnson & Johnson is testing its HIV drug darunavir. It cited “unpublished virological and clinical data” that showed some effectiveness in treating the SARS coronavirus.

But it’s still too early to know if those or any other possible treatments could be effective against COVID-19.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen.

Death toll rises from virus » At least 71 people have now died from the coronavirus in the United States. And there are at least 3,700 confirmed cases. But with problems in access to testing, experts fear the virus is much more widespread than those numbers indicate.

COVINGTON: Four states to hold elections today despite coronavirus changes » Ohio’s top health official halted the state’s presidential primary over concerns about the coronavirus, hours before voting was to begin today. 

On Monday, Governor Mike DeWine tried to persuade a judge to delay in-person voting until June. He noted recent CDC guidelines warning against any gatherings of more than 50 people. 

DEWINE: It is clear that tomorrow’s in-person voting does not conform and cannot conform with these CDC guidelines. 

Ohio Judge Richard Frye said it’s too late to delay the vote. And he added that there’s no evidence to suggest it will be safer to vote in June. 

But then the state’s top health official Dr. Amy Acton stepped in and issued the order to close polling stations. She said crowds gathering at polling places Tuesday could put people at unacceptable risk.

But officials in three other states scheduled to vote today felt they had done enough to ensure the safety of voters. So elections will go forward in Arizona, Florida and Illinois. However officials in those states have closed some voting stations down and relocated others for safety reasons. 

But another state will postpone its election until June. Kentucky’s Secretary of State Michael Adams made the announcement last night. 

ADAMS: Today, Governor Beshear and I agreed to delay the primary election originally scheduled for May 19th to June 23rd. 

Kentucky joins Georgia and Louisiana as the third state to postpone its primary election.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: the varied approaches states are taking to curtail the coronavirus.

Plus, our reporters recount their travel experiences.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD: It’s Tuesday the 17th of March, 2020. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Last week President Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic.

That move allocates federal aid up to $50 billion to help states fight back. Bureaucratic restrictions are loosened so healthcare providers can do what they need to do.

REICHARD: Over the last two weeks, nearly every governor in the country has declared a state of emergency at the local level. That means state officials can set curfews, mandate quarantines, and cancel public gatherings.

WORLD reporter Paul Butler has a story now on the different state responses to the COVID-19 health crisis.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: When President Trump declared the national state of emergency on Friday, a handful of states had already issued emergency proclamations. That gave them legal standing to make a wide range of executive decisions regarding public safety and health. 

The nation’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 occurred in Snohomish County, Washington, on January 20th. Five weeks later, on February 29th, a man died in King County, Washington, becoming the first U.S. death related to the virus. That same day, Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency.

INSLEE: So our priority now is to slow the spread of this dangerous virus. 

Inslee also reminded residents they all have a part to play in minimizing the impact of the virus. 

INSLEE: Everyone can be a leader in this effort. In fact, some of the most important leaders are all across the state of Washington—are not in public office. And the reason is, we can succeed in this, if we make our decisions based on calm confidence and a sense of understanding, that we are all in this together.

Within days, other states quickly followed suit: including California, Maryland, Utah, and Pennsylvania. On March 6th, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced his state’s first case of COVID-19.

BESHEAR: While the overall risk to Kentuckians is still low, we as a state will take every necessary action to protect our people. So about 5 minutes ago I filed a state of emergency so that we would have every tool that we could need to address this issue, and ultimately, to protect our people. 

As of Monday, every state but West Virginia had reported at least one case of the virus. 

Early on, most states began by issuing guidelines for voluntary quarantines, social distancing, and minimizing exposure by restricting group activities. Here’s New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 8th.

CUOMO: We are trying to contain the spread of the virus. Basically we want to reduce as much as possible situations creating density. 

Large churches around the country responded by cancelling services or moving them online. Collegiate and professional sports teams closed their stadiums to the public. Couples cancelled weddings, and families delayed funerals.

What began as voluntary compliance, soon became mandatory. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, from March 12th:

WOLF: For Montgomery County, I am ordering the closure of all schools, community centers, gyms, and entertainment venues. This includes Y’s, theaters, sporting events, concerts, and I’m strongly recommending the closing of non-essential retail facilities. No mass gatherings should be held, including conferences, and rallies. By closing these facilities we can control the spread of the disease. 

Hoboken, New Jersey, Mayor Steve Fulop took it a step further, ordering people off the streets by 10pm.

FULOP: We’re going to put a curfew in place for larger night clubs…

By the end of last week, most states had either extended Spring Break or cancelled school until at least the end of March. Here’s Alabama Governor Kay Ivey speaking Friday.

IVEY: All public K-12 schools across the state will have a two and a half week break…

Most state universities are moving to online learning for the next few weeks. Some have even cancelled the rest of the semester. 

But COVID-19 is most dangerous for older patients. So many governors, including Florida’s Ron DeSantis, have introduced restrictions for visiting nursing homes and other care facilities.

DESANTIS: At the end of the day, this is a virus that does not threaten all segments of our society equally. The folks that are most at risk for this are folks who are elderly, frail, or have a serious underlying condition. So we want to do all we can to prevent this virus from affecting those communities who are most at risk from it.

On Saturday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper was visibly frustrated by the many not taking the guidelines seriously. 

COOPER: As you know, we issued this as guidance on Thursday. However, despite this guidance, several venues continued their events. So today’s order makes that mandatory. This is a risk we cannot tolerate. 

Many states like Massachusetts, Nevada, and Illinois have prohibited eating in public. With Trump’s suggestion yesterday for limiting groups to 10 people or less, and California’s “shelter in place” edict for some of their counties, it’s likely that many other local governments will soon follow their lead.

In the midst of it all, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon encouraged his state’s residents to think of others in very practical ways in the days and weeks ahead.

GORDON: I’m also hearing concerns from our communities that there are a lack of cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper. I ask that you be respectful of others in your community as you are stocking up. Some of our most vulnerable residents are unable to get into our communities and must rely on others to bring supplies.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler.

NICK EICHER: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: social distancing. We’re hearing that phrase a lot. But what does it mean in practical terms? What distance is far enough? What works and what doesn’t work?

Joining us now to explain is Dr. Charles Horton. He’s a physician in Pittsburgh.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning, Dr. Horton, now this new term describes something so serious that it can be a matter of life and death. So can you define social distancing and give us some examples of the best way to practice it?

CHARLES HORTON, GUEST: Sure. Social distancing means putting space between you and other people to slow down the spread of disease. Now, normally people are very social; it’s how God made us. I like eating out with my friends more than I enjoy eating out by myself. But now we’re being asked to consciously avoid group events or even prevent them for awhile, to slow down the spread of disease.

One excellent example of leadership in this area is actually what the sports leagues have done. They’ve decided to put the public’s health ahead of ticket sales and not have crowds sitting close together. That’s social distancing. Closing schools, closing restaurants, canceling or delaying cultural events until after things settle down. And working from home whenever possible.

REICHARD:  I’m wondering: can you go too far with this? I mean, maybe some people are doing things they believe are social distancing, but maybe they really aren’t. 

HORTON: I’ll give a lawyer’s answer: It depends. If you completely isolate yourself from the world, you won’t get coronavirus. Now Gunnison, Colorado, actually did this with the Spanish flu in 1918. Officials there barricaded the roads for two months, and nobody in Gunnison died from Spanish flu.

For certain vulnerable people, trying to have the absolute lowest chance of exposure makes sense. The danger goes up sharply with age. Ditto if you’re in generally poor health. Your average teenager is going to shrug this off. But your patient with iffy lungs from smoking a pack a day won’t.

That’s the main idea behind social distancing: make it harder for the virus to spread person to person, and keep it from infecting people who’d be hard hit. Grandma visiting the grandkids who aren’t in school because the school was closed? That could well protect Grandma because the children don’t have coronavirus. 

As far as things that don’t help: I was reading about people going to crowded bars for St. Patrick’s Day festivities, but occasionally using hand sanitizer. If anyone in the bar is sick that’s not enough. 

REICHARD:  We’re hearing a lot about “flattening the curve.” Can you explain that in simple terms? 

HORTON: When we talk about a curve, an epidemic curve, or sometimes we say “epi-curve,” we mean how many new cases show up per day. Lots of factors feed into that. There’s some we can control and some we can’t. Because some bugs are just more contagious than others. They all do have one thing in common, which is they all have to get from one person to another, or they won’t spread. So, the faster a bug spreads, the steeper the curve. The slower it spreads, the flatter the curve. The curve always tails off after a while, even if people don’t do anything at all, because the bug runs out of people to infect.

If you want to think about something happier than actual viruses, think of something “going viral” on the internet, like that video where the guy’s two-year-old barges into the room while he’s giving a live video interview on TV. If you looked at how many people had watched the video, at first it’s going up really quickly, everyone’s forwarding it to their friends. Nobody’s seen it before. Hey, you’ve gotta check this out. After awhile, it tails off because more and more people have already seen it. Real viruses act the same way.

Right now, we’re trying to keep the curve flat as possible, to make the disease spread as slowly as possible. The goal is to keep our hospitals from being overrun like they had been in Wuhan, like they are now in Italy, like we’re starting to see in Seattle.

REICHARD: You know last night, Dr. Horton, I was at the grocery store when I heard a young woman expressing exasperation that people were panicking, and that she wasn’t going to die, so what’s the big deal. What do you say to that kind of naïveté? 

HORTON: I would remind her that even if she isn’t in much danger, she could carry the virus to people who are. And the situation we’re really concerned about getting into is simply running out of ventilators. What if people would survive with the help of a ventilator and ICU care, but there’s no ventilator, or there’s no ICU bed? That’s the situation we’re trying to avoid. And that’s the reason for the kind of extreme seeming measures. They’re worth it. This is not a dress rehearsal. 

REICHARD: Any final tips for us, Dr. Horton? 

HORTON: Again, social distancing. Do clean things that we touch a lot, like refrigerator doors, doorknobs, cash, cellphones. Do cough and sneeze into your sleeve. If you’ve ever seen one of those pictures where someone takes a flash photograph of a sneeze or a cough, it’s amazing how far the respiratory droplets go. It’s about six feet, then gravity takes over. So if you have to be out and about, then keep that six foot mark in mind. 

REICHARD: Anybody’s who’s seen that picture would never forget it. Dr. Charles Horton is a practicing physician in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Doctor Horton, thanks for spending some time with us today. 

HORTON:  My pleasure. Stay calm, stay well.

NICK EICHER: You no doubt have noticed certain items are in shorter supply these days. Paper products, for example, like what you need in the restroom. 

Well, the owner of an arcade in East Yorkshire, England has found a clever way to help ease the shortage of toilet paper. 

So what you have to picture here is one of those coin-operated crane machines: you know, the big metal claw that you maneuver to pick up your desired toy and drop it in the bin. Well, what this arcade owner did was pull out all the novelties and replace them with necessities, rolls of toilet paper. Then he set the machine outside on the sidewalk.

Another arcade operator did the same. He said he evicted the character from Frozen and the Peter Rabbit teddy bears and replaced them with hand sanitizer and toilet rolls instead. 

Apparently the new crane prizes have been a huge success and given people not only a welcome and fun diversion—but also taking care of a real need.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER: Today is Tuesday, March 17th. You’re listening to WORLD Radio and we are glad you are! Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. Well, it may be St. Patrick’s Day, but those celebrations have come to a screeching halt. No massive parades. Instead, canceled events of all sorts. 

To get an idea of what some of these effects are like first-hand, we are joined now by three WORLD reporters who have been out and about during these disruptions.

First up is Sarah Schweinsberg. 

Now Sarah, last week, you were on a reporting trip in the San Francisco Bay Area. And that area really came into the headlines last week because a cruise ship docked in the Port of Oakland with at least 21 coronavirus cases on board. Tell us about that.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: Yeah, Mary, it was interesting driving North, straight out of downtown San Francisco, driving across the bridge there. I looked to my right and there is the 2,400 passenger Grand Princess cruise ship anchored there. And I think with that ship being anchored there, it led a lot of Silicon Valley companies like Twitter, Amazon, Facebook, Airbnb to ask their employees to work from home, which really cut back on the traffic in the area, which was nice for me. But you know, it’s become difficult for some employees who do rely on that heavy traffic downtown, um, for their cafes and shops. And now yesterday, as you heard earlier authorities have now banned non-essential gatherings of any size there and are asking people to only go out into public for essentials. 

REICHARD: What was flying like in the midst of a lot of these disruptions to everyday life? 

SCHWEINSBERG: To me traffic in the airport was a lot less dense than it usually is. You know, usually you’re wheeling down the hall and you have to weave and zag around people to walk in a straight line. And that was not a problem at all. There’s a commercial air traffic website that is tracking the number of flights globally and they’re saying that it’s down by 5% compared to this time last year. And then I was on my way to another city and another conference over the weekend, and en route to the airport, my conference got canceled. There was a lot of confusion over how to change and cancel flights. Could I get flight credit? Would I be reimbursed?

I did get that situation resolved. Thankfully, I canceled my flight, and I was reimbursed. Now every airline is a little bit different. But Forbes has put together a master list of all airlines and their cancellation flight change policies right now. That’s really helpful to know how to best handle your situation, whatever that looks like. And I think we’re going to link it here. So check the transcript later and you can look at that list.

REICHARD: Starts at 5:47 on my track with Leigh: Alright thank you, Sarah. OK now let’s toss it to Leigh Jones who just got back from a family vacation to Disneyland in California.  Leigh, it seems you made it into and out of the park just in time for it to close Friday night through the end of the month. This marks only the fourth time the park has ever closed. So, Leigh going into last week did you have any worries that the park could close while you were there?

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: Well, not before we left, but certainly by the time we got there we were getting more alerts on our phones about all the other things that were closing and the things that were being postponed. I think though our bigger concern was whether we would be able to get home because we kept seeing news alerts about the possibility for travel bans and things like that.

REICHARD: What did you observe in other guests and how they responded to the growing spread of coronavirus throughout the week? 

JONES: Well, definitely by the end of the week we started to see more, um, face masks. And the park was definitely, the traffic was lighter on Friday, but for the most part it was sort of like being an a in another world. I mean we were in lines with people, we were on rides with people, the princesses were all out in the park and welcoming kids. There was no social distancing or anything like that. 

REICHARD: Well, things have certainly changed. And you were traveling with your 6-year-old daughter, right? How did you explain all this to her? 

JONES: We’ve just been very honest about the fact that it’s a bad sickness and it’s affecting a lot of people. Um, we’re keeping her away from her grandmother for a couple of weeks because it’s, you know, possible that we picked up the virus while we were traveling. And, um, so we’ve just really tried to, um, remind her about how much we trust in God’s sovereignty, that the coronavirus is new to us, but it’s not news to God and just using this as a real object lesson in trust and knowing that he is working all things for our good.

REICHARD: Well, we’re glad you’re home safe and sound now. Take care out there! Finally now,  we turn to Emily Belz who has travelled quite far—all the way to Kenya to report on medical mission efforts there. She’s currently in a mission hospital there about 150 miles west of the capital city, Nairobi. 

Emily, for a long time Africa didn’t see a large spread of Covid-19. But the numbers are starting to grow with 25 countries now reporting cases. Kenya just confirmed its first on Friday. Are you seeing the hospital preparing for a possible spike in cases where you are? 

EMILY BELZ, REPORTER: It’s really changing hourly here. The hospital has set up an isolation area. Even today at the hospital they’ve had to cancel events. There was a free cervical cancer screening that was going to take place. Um, and the government canceled it because more than 500 women were gonna show up. A few days ago we had a meeting with the entire hospital staff, which is about 800 people. And the CEO, you know, went over some of the basic things that they’re trying to do, but then he prayed for everyone. He prayed that the people at the hospital, the staff would be prepared to help the people of Kenya.

REICHARD: Are people in the community worried about the virus? Or does it still seem like a far off problem at this point. 

BELZ: Even though there are no confirmed cases in this particular area, um, people are still using a lot of hand sanitizer. Um, the hospital is going through a lot of masks, um, and we’re seeing ripple effects already. This weekend we found out that a surgical team of pediatric cardiothoracic surgical team that was supposed to come here, canceled their trip. Um, and they would have done a lot of cases for these babies with congenital heart defects. And so that’s really devastating. So some of those babies are going to die because of travel restrictions and just the way that this virus is playing out. But I would also say that I’ve seen a lot of resilience from the health care workers here. And I think, you know, part of that is that Africa has faced a lot of new emerging viruses before. I think that for many of the workers here at this hospital that goes back to their Christian faith and believing that they’re here to serve and to sacrifice, uh, to keep people alive. And so I’ve been seeing that every day here.

REICHARD: Many African countries’ healthcare systems aren’t as advanced as those in the West or in China and South Korea. Can healthcare systems there handle a pandemic spread of a virus like Covid-19? Are doctors and public officials worried? 

BELZ: Here at, I’m at Tenwek hospital, they have a very high level of medical care here actually. But they are busting at the seams. They just don’t have any margin for a pandemic to happen. I don’t know where they would put people, honestly. It’s just full to the seams here.

REICHARD: Emily Belz at a missions hospital in rural Kenya. Thanks Emily.

Since we recorded this interview, the president of Kenya has now closed the country’s borders to all non-residents trying to enter. And the government has ordered anyone who recently entered the country to self-quarantine, so Emily Belz will be in quarantine until the end of the week. We will keep you updated on her situation.

MARY REICHARD: Today is Tuesday, March 17th. Good morning to you! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. For most people, the coronavirus is as inconvenient as having a cold or flu. But senior citizens are much more vulnerable. That’s why “social distancing” is so important, as Dr. Horton described a few minutes ago.

Yet protecting older people is not the only reason to do this. Here’s WORLD’s Les Sillars.

THOMAS: These are my coronavirus gloves and I wear them when I go out and I disinfect these with disinfectant wipes …

LES SILLARS, COMMENTATOR: This is Mike Thomas. Like me, he’s an elder at Fellowship Bible Church in Winchester. His gloves are tight fitting. Blue and black.

THOMAS: It’s something to keep me mindful of social distancing.

SILLARS: What kind of gloves are they?

THOMAS: They’re mechanic gloves, actually, from Walmart. Nothing special, but they do have the things in the fingertips so you can operate your smartphone without taking your gloves off …

I first saw Mike’s gloves after an elders’ meeting last week. We’d been discussing what to do about the virus. We were taking it seriously but, you know, nobody wanted to panic or anything. Then Mike spoke up. He explained about his new grandson, Seth.

THOMAS: It hits home for us a little bit in that we have a newborn grandson who was two months premature born in October, and one of the conditions or problems with preemies is that they have inadequate lung development.

That leaves Seth seriously vulnerable to lung diseases like COVID-19. He is also a Down Syndrome baby, and that makes it worse.

Mike and his wife Donna babysit Seth’s older sister Clara most days. They can’t let her take any diseases back home. So, they disinfect. A lot. They even change clothes more often. They stopped going to the playground. Here’s Donna.

DONNA: I’ve never, I guess I’ve always thought I do a reasonable amount of handwashing, but now I do so much more because it’s clear to me my reasonable wasn’t really effective, so …

You’d think that Mike and Donna would do anything to stop the spread of the virus. It could be life and death for Seth. And they are cautious. Our church has canceled events and put services online.

But Mike and Donna also believe church members should help sick neighbors where possible. We should give generously so the church can help those in need.

Mike and Donna reminded me that Christ is with us. Always. So sometimes loving your neighbor means staying home with Lysol wipes. And sometimes it means looking for ways, prudently, to minister to people next door.

THOMAS: Let’s walk around with that assurance, that confidence, and minister to people. That’s what we’re asking our folks to do is really lean into the situation and look around to see how we can help others.

I’m Les Sillars.

NICK EICHER: Tomorrow: WORLD’s Mindy Belz joins us to talk about the international response to COVID-19.

And, we’ll share some ideas on entertaining  kids during this time.

That and more tomorrow. 

I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Psalms remind us that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.