U.S. takes COVID-19 response to next level

President Donald Trump announced travel restrictions on Europe on Wednesday as state and local governments began pulling out all the stops in the fight against the new coronavirus. The European travel ban, which excludes the United Kingdom, will initially last for 30 days. Trump also proposed measures to ease the economic effects of the epidemic as officials across the country put school and public gatherings on hold—some voluntarily and some by government mandate

Is all this really necessary? Though many people either won’t catch the coronavirus or will experience only mild symptoms, the precautions are aimed at minimizing the number of infections so they don’t overwhelm the U.S. healthcare system. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a WORLD News Group board member, said the love of God and of neighbor should drive Christians’ decisions at this time. In announcing that the seminary and Boyce College would move classes online, he admonished students, “We need to see this challenge as an opportunity for us to … demonstrate in a whole new context what it means for us to love one another, what it means to serve Christ, what it means to love our neighbors, and what it means to care for one another.”

Dig deeper: Read Marvin Olasky’s commentary on a Biblical approach to the epidemic informed by the teachings of Martin Luther.