What You Need To Know About The Great Face Mask Debate

Whether more people should wear masks has become one of the fiercest debates of the coronavirus pandemic. New data about how the virus spreads may be tipping the scales.

Zahra HirjiBuzzFeed News Reporter April 2, 2020

Michael Bryant / AP
A Costco employee, right, looks towards a shopper wearing a mask and snorkel to go shopping in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

A growing number of public health experts are arguing that people should wear masks while in public to help prevent spreading the coronavirus, as new data shows people without visible symptoms are likely spreading COVID-19 more than previously believed.

Just this week, the Trump administration announced the CDC was considering the idea. "The idea of getting a much more broad communitywide use of masks outside of the health care setting is under very active discussion,” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the president’s coronavirus task force, told ABC News.

As Americans wait for more guidance from the federal government, we’ll tackle three questions currently at the heart of the fast-changing mask debate: Who can spread the virus? Can the virus be airborne? What’s the difference between the types of masks? But first, some overall context:

The debate over mask use — happening inside the Trump administration, academia, and hospitals whose workers are caring for COVID-19 patients — is getting increasingly heated. Public health experts have been pushing back against the narrow federal guidelines stating that face masks should only be worn by health care workers, people caring for the ill, or those who are actively displaying symptoms.

What it means for the general public is still confusing and ethically murky. There is a lethal shortage of medical masks — both the rigid, snug-fitting N95 respirators and the looser-fitting surgical masks — for health care workers, and there will be even fewer if the general public buys them en masse. And as people turn to making homemade masks from craft kits or old T-shirts, it’s still unclear how much these even help prevent the spread of the disease or prevent the wearer from contracting it.

Part of the confusion stems from misleading messaging in the early days of the US outbreak. In late February, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams forcefully said that the public should not wear masks. His widely shared tweet made the contradictory argument that masks would not protect the public against the virus — but that, at the same time, health care workers needed them for protection. He also didn’t specify what counted as a mask. An N95? A surgical mask? A fabric mask?


U.S. Surgeon General@Surgeon_General
Seriously people- STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk! https://t.co/UxZRwxxKL912:08 PM - 29 Feb 2020

Similarly, the CDC’s guidance has been unchanged from the beginning: Healthy people do not need masks. “You do not need to wear a facemask unless you are caring for someone who is sick (and they are not able to wear a facemask). Facemasks may be in short supply and they should be saved for caregivers,” the agency’s website says.

Even the World Health Organization still does not endorse widespread mask use.

Meanwhile, countries where widespread mask use predated the pandemic — including China, Japan, and South Korea — are embracing masks more than ever. George Gao, director-general of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told Science the biggest mistake countries like the US were making in response to the outbreak “is that people aren’t wearing masks.”

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In recent weeks, some US hospitals have changed their guidelines, requiring all of their staff to wear masks, instead of just those interacting with COVID-19 patients. And US public health experts are pushing back, including Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, who cowrote a report recommending “everyone, including people without symptoms, should be encouraged to wear nonmedical fabric face masks while in public.”

The subsequent mask debate inside the federal government, first reported by the Washington Post, is a stark departure from previous federal recommendations.

When asked on Wednesday about whether the public should wear masks, President Donald Trump said: “We don’t want to take them away from our medical professionals, but I don’t see it hurting.” And Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti this week recommended everyone in the city wear a nonmedical mask, such as a homemade mask or bandana.

Public health officials consulted by BuzzFeed News declined to criticize the CDC’s decision-making on masks, saying it was appropriate based on what we knew about the coronavirus at the time. But now that our understanding of the spread has shifted, they said, so too should our guidance on masks.

“The first reason to wear a mask is so we all protect each other,” said Roger Shapiro, a Boston doctor and an associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard, the best rationale for wearing a mask “is so you don’t infect someone else.”

There may also “be a small benefit” to a noninfected mask wearer, he added, “since we don’t know everything about how this disease transmits.”

All sides of the debate still agree that masks will only be effective in helping to slow the spread of the coronavirus if used in addition to regular handwashing and social distancing.

Here’s what we know so far:


Mary Altaffer / AP
Passengers wear face masks as they wait in line to check in for their flights on March 24 at JFK airport in New York.

People with no symptoms can spread the virus — so more masks could help stop the spread.

According to the early information coming out of China, where the outbreak began, the virus was predominantly being spread by visibly sick people who were coughing and sneezing into the air close to others and on surfaces.

If those sick people self-isolate, or at least stay 6 feet away from others, and wear a mask to cut down on the germs they are spewing, they would cut down on their chances of infecting others.

Since then, a growing body of data suggests that some percentage of people who test positive for the virus never display any symptoms, but are likely to still be capable of spreading the disease (though such transmission hasn’t been confirmed). In the cases of people who do develop symptoms, they can be contagious for a few days before that happens, other research shows. This means people who the CDC currently says should not wear masks could be spreading the disease without knowing it.

It’s for this same reason that some hospitals have started mandating widespread mask use among health care workers.

The new policy was put in place at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners HealthCare hospitals in recent weeks “based on our recognition that there is widespread community transmission of COVID-19, as well as our recognition that there is significant asymptomatic spread — in other words, COVID-19 can be spread by people who don’t feel ill at all,” Paul Biddinger, chief of emergency preparedness for both MGH and Partners, told the Globe.

Shapiro, whose hospital also changed its guidelines, said that new policy shifted his thinking on masks more generally. “If I’m going to do it in the hospital, it raises that question of why not do it in other settings,” Shapiro said. “But I can tell you I haven’t changed my personal practice.”

There are also questions about whether the virus can be airborne.

When an infected person is coughing, sneezing, or likely even talking, they are spewing both small particles and large droplets into the air. This is how the virus is most likely transmitted, public health officials say, which is why they recommend staying 6 feet away from others to be outside the possible splash zone, as well as washing your hands and avoiding touching your face in case you touched an infected surface.

But new research suggests the virus can sometimes spread through the air, where small particles have stayed aloft for up to 3 hours in a lab setting. That’s much longer than originally thought. But it’s important to stress that experts don’t actually know whether the virus is really spreading this way in the real world, unlike well-known airborne diseases such as measles.

There’s at least one case where local officials are considering the possibility of airborne spread, at a choir recital in Washington state. No one was visibly ill at the event, but afterward at least 45 choir members likely got COVID-19, and at least one died.

But most masks wouldn’t protect against airborne exposure.

Not all masks offer equal protection.

For the purposes of the coronavirus outbreak, there are three main types of masks: respirators, surgical masks, and fabric, or homemade, masks.

N95s
Rigorously lab-tested and government-approved, N95 respirators are designed to protect someone from 95% of the particles in the air. They are so protective both because the mask material is relatively non-porous, designed to keep out large droplets and small particle aerosols, and they are securely fitted to a wearer’s face to ensure stray particles can’t slip in through the sides.
In the coronavirus outbreak, N95s are only recommended for health care workers performing procedures that put them most at risk of virus exposure, such as testing for the virus by swabbing a patient’s nose or mouth. They are most effective when used only once, but are currently being reused by doctors and nurses due to mass shortages.

Getty Images

Surgical masks
Surgical masks are approved by the FDA, and they help protect the wearer against large droplets. Since they are more porous than N95 respirators and loose fitting, they do not protect against small particles in the air. They are disposable and most effective in single-patient interactions.
In the coronavirus outbreak, surgical masks are recommended for health care workers, caregivers, and people who are sick. They are also being reused due to supply shortages.

Alamy

Fabric or home-made masks
They can range widely in material and quality. While they may offer some protection against large droplets, it’s unknown how effective they are at doing so, and they do not protect against small particles in the air. According to one small study, they were three times less effective than surgical masks.
In the coronavirus outbreak, the CDC is only recommending people wear such masks when caring for COVID-19 patients “as a last resort.” But this may change, and some public officials are already recommending the general public wear such masks.

Ben King / BuzzFeed News; BQE Bags

N95 respirators are considered the gold standard for those on the frontlines. When worn properly — securely fitted to a wearer’s face — they offer protection from about 95% of small particles (0.3 microns in size) and large droplets. Individual coronavirus particles are smaller than this. But when they are coughed or sneezed up, they likely travel in small clumps of spit and mucus.

The WHO and the CDC only recommend N95s for health care workers at the greatest risk of virus exposure, such as those who test patients for COVID-19 by swabbing their noses or mouths or those who connect patients to respirators. In an ideal setting, N95s are only worn once and then tossed out. But due to supply shortages, health care workers are having to repeatedly wear the respirators, raising questions about whether the masks are getting contaminated from repeated exposures and removals. No one is recommending the public wear N95 respirators.

Surgical masks are the next step down, offering protection against large droplets. This is the type of mask CDC currently recommends for most health care workers, caregivers, and people who are sick. In recent weeks, a wave of hospitals in Boston, San Francisco, and Providence, and other US cities, have started requiring all of their health care workers wear these masks, six doctors and nurses told BuzzFeed News.

The current shortage of surgical masks for health care workers is shaping the government’s thinking on whether to start recommending them to the public.

Consequently, the discussions over changing the CDC’s mask guidance are about whether most people should start wearing homemade fabric masks, which may offer some protection against large droplets but don’t protect against small particles in the air. Not considered official “personal protective equipment” by the CDC, the agency only recommends them for health care workers “as a last resort.” Their effectiveness against droplets is unknown due to minimal study and the wide range in fabric materials that can be used.

According to a 2013 study in the journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, fabric masks that fit snugly on the face provided three times less protection than surgical masks. “We found they are not as good as surgical masks,” Anna Davies, the lead study author, told BuzzFeed News.

Davies and her colleagues found a surgical mask had about a 90% filtration efficiency for very small particles (around 2 microns). The next best materials found at home at blocking particles were vacuum cleaner bags (about 86% filtration efficiency) and tea towels (about 72% filtration efficiency), but they would be so difficult to breathe out of that they wouldn’t be suitable for a mask. Meanwhile, a cotton mix material had about 70% filtration efficiency compared to roughly 57% for a pillowcase, about 62% for linen, about 54% for silk, nearly 51% for a 100% cotton T-shirt, and nearly 49% for a scarf.

“An improvised face mask should be viewed as the last possible alternative if a supply of commercial face masks is not available,” the study authors wrote, and should be paired with other protective measures.

Davies noted this was a very small study, not a clinical trial, and that much more research was needed on the effectiveness of homemade masks in a pandemic environment.

Some of the health experts most resistant to universal mask-wearing largely cite concerns that people would not wear masks properly or adhere to other safety precautions less as a result. If someone is constantly fidgeting with their mask, or is emboldened to get closer to people than 6 feet or leave the house more than they might otherwise, the potential benefits of a mask would likely be negated.

“I suspect probably if everyone wore masks, and alongside all social distancing, you’d probably see a reduction in transmission,” Davies said. “The masks don’t give you a normal life back, unfortunately.”

Many questions remain about how to best use fabric masks: How do you decontaminate them? Can they be reused? How long should you wear a homemade mask for?

But public health officials are increasingly coming on board to the idea of more people covering their faces, or at least supporting people who want to.

“No one should be yelled at because they decide to wear a mask,” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “They are not crazy. They are trying to protect themselves. And may it reduce their risk a little bit? Maybe.” ●



Zahra Hirji is a science reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC

A Glimpse Inside "One Of America's Most Dangerous Cults"

"With every line of the prayer came another blow to Matthew’s chest. All he could think was ... 'Am I going to die?'" (An excerpt from Broken Faith: Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults.)

Mitch WeissBuzzFeed Contributor   

Holbrook MohrBuzzFeed Contributor

Posted on March 29, 2020

Ben Kothe / BuzzFeed News; Hanover Square Press

Matthew Fenner was 16 years old in 2010, when his family joined Word of Faith Fellowship. Wiry, neatly dressed, with a quick smile and kind eyes, he grabbed Danielle Cordes’s attention right away. Danielle was always intrigued when new kids arrived. She wondered where they came from, the things they’d seen and done in the world outside. Matthew was something special. His soft voice and body language radiated kindness, something Danielle longed for more than anything. She fell in love. The church approved. But Matthew was not what he seemed to be.

Now, three years later, he was gone. Disappeared. And no one in the church would talk about it. Maybe it was because of the vicious beating he’d taken in the sanctuary, a blasting so violent Danielle thought he might be killed. Danielle had been there; she had done what she could to stop it. But when she didn’t see Matthew in class at Isothermal Community College a few days after the beating, she knew something was very wrong. She asked the professor about Matthew. He said the young man had dropped the class. She was perplexed. Danielle knew how much school meant to Matthew. If he’d escaped, if he was somewhere on the outside, she’d join him somehow. She had tried to escape before, but didn’t get far. This time she’d be more careful. She couldn’t take Word of Faith without Matthew. He was her hope

Over the years, Danielle figured she’d been beaten by at least 40 different adults in her life — her parents, teachers, principals, and ministers — not to mention being slapped and thrown to the floor countless times by her peers during blasting sessions — ear-piercing, screaming group prayers meant to drive out demons. Danielle never believed the prayers were meant to help her. No, she believed the people in those circles wanted to hurt others, whether they stomped your toes, yanked your hair, or punched you in the chest. Jane Whaley liked to say to “do whatever it takes.” In Danielle’s life, violence “was normal and encouraged.” And how could she forget her freshman year of high school, when an accusation of impure feelings for a boy escalated, leading to a confrontation with Jane Whaley. Whaley alternated hands, slapping her on each side of the face “probably fifty times.” The violence only fed her determination to someday escape.

Matthew and his family first attended a service at the Word of Faith Fellowship in 2010. Matthew thought the church was “a wild mess,” and he never wanted to go back. He didn’t believe in God, so church seemed like a waste of time. But his mother, Linda Addington, was impressed. When she heard Whaley preach about the sin of homosexuality, she believed God had led her home. The year before, Matthew had come out as gay to his family. He’d always known he was different. Even as a child, when his friends talked about growing up and getting married, he pictured himself with a man. Linda tried to ignore the signs. She believed homosexuality was a sin condemned in the Bible.

Once Linda joined the Word of Faith Fellowship, the church’s teachings reinforced her fears. Matthew was an angry teen, but now he had a bargaining chip. His mother was intent that he go to church. He agreed to attend the Friday night fellowship meetings if his mom would let him to go out with a boy he liked. Matthew knew his mother couldn’t accept him for who he was, but he longed for her love and approval. He agreed to keep an open mind about the church. And the first time he attended a Friday night social event, something surprising happened: He liked it.

Everyone was fun and friendly. Nobody asked about his sexuality. For the first time in years, he felt like he fit in. And there was something else: People in the church seemed so much better off than his family. While his mom and siblings struggled at times, depending on unemployment and food stamps to get by, people in the church had nice clothes, new cars, and beautiful homes.

When church minister Brooke Covington asked Matthew if they could spend some time together, he happily agreed. She picked him up and drove to a McDonald’s restaurant. They ordered from the drive-through window. Matthew, a vegetarian at the time, ordered only water. Brooke ordered a drink and fries. They sat in her car in the parking lot and she asked him about his dreams and aspirations.

The longer they talked, the more comfortable he felt. It was “like a therapy session, only less formal,” he later said. He told Brooke about how his parents had divorced when he was a child, and how difficult his relationship with his father had become. His mother got sick, he said, so they had to live with his grandparents.

And Matthew had been sick, too, he said. He’d been diagnosed with melanoma when he was 13 years old. It was in remission now, but he worried about it coming back.

She nodded, listening intently as the young man unloaded a lifetime of pain and resentment. When he finished, he felt relieved. Covington seemed to care about what he had to say. He felt important, like his life and struggles mattered. Over time, Matthew came to believe that the Word of Faith Fellowship was the right place for him. Soon as his junior year of high school ended, he transferred to the Word of Faith Christian School.

He committed himself to the church, attending events nearly every day. It was a “fresh start,” his mother said. She hoped Matthew would meet a nice girl and “live a normal life,” maybe even give her grandchildren one day

Matthew was observant by nature, watching closely how others behaved and interacted. He made mental notes of what seemed to please the church leaders and what made them mad.

This place is a big, nonstop psychological game, he thought. Like a method actor, Matthew slipped into character. He dressed the way he was told and prayed the way he was expected. He told on others when he believed they were in sin, participated in blasting, and “dealt with” people who needed it.

And when it was his turn to be blasted, he found a dramatic way to signal a breakthrough: He’d pretend to have a seizure, flopping around on the floor. It was over the top, but it thrilled the ministers.

Yes, he had figured things out. Listen to what they say, observe everything that’s going on, and just play the part. But there was one part Matthew was not ready for. By their senior year, teenagers were expected to start looking for a mate. It wasn’t a surprise when Robin Webster announced to Matthew’s class that it was time to start “walking out a relationship.”

“Is anyone carrying anyone?” she asked. “If you are, raise your hand.”

Danielle lowered her head, wanting to be as small as possible, invisible. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to leave the church. Getting paired up with someone wasn’t going to make that any easier.

But Matthew raised his hand. He knew that his mother wanted him to be with Danielle, and if he had to spend time with a girl, it might as well be her. She was friendly and outgoing and, best of all, trustworthy. Only a few ministers in the church knew he was gay, and they were convinced God could change that.

“I feel like I should fellowship with Danielle,” he said.

Danielle felt her heart beat faster. Matthew was an outsider. She had wanted to leave the church ever since she was a child. Maybe Matthew would be her way out.

And just like that, they were a couple. They sat together at Friday night youth socials, where couples gathered around tables for pizza and salad. Danielle began having Sunday lunch with Matthew’s family. In time, she developed strong feelings for him. He could sense that she was falling for him, but what could he do? He wanted to tell her he was gay, but he was too afraid. So he continued playing the part, hoping his feelings would eventually change.


Chuck Burton / AP
Word of Faith Fellowship church leader Jane Whaley talks to members of the media Thursday, March 2, 1995, accompanied by her husband, Sam, in Spindale, N.C.

In the spring of 2012, Whaley said God wanted the Fenners to move into the Covington house. It seemed a natural fit. Brooke had taken Matthew under her wing. A dozen other people lived there, too, including Patrick Covington. He and Matthew found they had a lot in common.

Both were “bubbly and excitable, not hypermasculine.” When they could steal moments alone, they talked about the outside world. They realized that when Patrick had been in foster care during a custody battle, they had attended the same elementary school. They knew some of the same people. They talked about music and movies they remembered from their time outside the church, and the things they’d like to do someday. There were giddy moments, with a “flirty undertone.”

That was dangerous. The ministers noticed. “The way you two interact with each other is not godly,” they were told. “It’s not what it means to be a godly man.”

One day in late January 2013, Matthew was working in the laundry room at the Covingtons’ house when Patrick walked in and closed the door. Spontaneously, as if it was something they couldn’t control, they embraced. Then they locked eyes and kissed. It shocked them both.

“We need to go,” Matthew said. “If they find us here, we’ll be in trouble.”

For Matthew, it was a pivotal moment. He had been trying to suppress his feelings for Patrick, but now he felt validated. It was terrifying, too. Matthew shuddered to think what would happen if anyone found out.

The following day they were sent together to paint the basement of a church member’s house. While one of them stood on a ladder painting, the other grabbed a leg, slowly edging his hand higher, trying to see how far things would go. Eventually they were touching each other’s crotches, enjoying the excitement of a new, forbidden romance.

Danielle was oblivious to it all.

When Brooke and Jayne Caulder pulled her aside after a church service, they only confused her. “We know that you know about Matthew’s problem,” Brooke said. “You need to deal with his sin. If you don’t do something, he is going to leave the church. If that happens, his blood will be on your hands.”

Danielle nodded, but she had no idea what Brooke was talking about. She knew Matthew was a little different than other boys in the church, but strict rules forbade any kind of intimate knowledge of his character, much less his sexuality. Everyone worked hard to keep her in ignorance, then expected her to understand it all.

She’d been taught there was a sin called “homosexuality,” but that was it. Sexuality was a taboo subject, and homosexuality was beyond the realm of her understanding. Danielle couldn’t figure it out exactly, but she knew something was seriously wrong.

Ever since they’d moved in with the Covingtons, Patrick’s sisters Sarah and Rachel were on the fast track to becoming ministers, Brooke’s sidekicks. They sat alongside as Brooke and Jane discussed church business at the dinner table. They were good girls. They followed the rules, and made sure others did, too.

Sarah was assigned to “watch over” Matthew at church and school, so it was no surprise when she approached Danielle after the Sunday morning service on January 27, 2013.

“I think there’s something going on with Matthew,” Sarah said.

“What do you think it is?” Danielle asked.

“I don’t know — he just kept smirking at Patrick. I feel like something is going on between them. I think he has the unclean,” Sarah said.

That night after church, Matthew was taken aside by Brooke, Sarah, and Sarah’s husband, Nick Anderson. They asked him to “open up about the sin in his life.”

At the same time Jayne Caulder accused Danielle of having “perversions” for her sister, meaning their relationship was too personal. “You need prayer,” Caulder said.

Danielle knew exactly what to do. She “went through the motions,” listened to the screaming, confessed her sin, and “had a breakthrough.”

When it was over, Danielle noticed a commotion across the room, where a growing number of people had surrounded Matthew. They were blasting him. She wanted to go over to him, but Caulder waved her away. Matthew started to scream, real bloodcurdling screams.

Danielle bolted to the other side of the sanctuary, where Matthew was seated within a circle of nearly two dozen people. Brooke was pushing on his chest, screaming, “Open your heart!”

Sarah slapped him hard in the face, leaving four red fingerprints on his cheek. Before he knew what was happening, Matthew was being shoved and punched. He weighed only about one hundred and thirty pounds, and a week earlier doctors had taken biopsies to ensure his melanoma hadn’t returned.

“The way you hold your hands, the way you cross your legs, that’s all homosexual devils. We are going to get it out of you,” Brooke screamed. “Did you have homosexual thoughts in a dream? Did your body manifest?”

Danielle had seen and heard many blasting sessions over the years, but this seemed more frightening, more hysterical, and clearly more violent. She shivered when she heard her name.

“Danielle, get over her and deal with your friend,” Brooke shouted.

When Danielle approached, Brooke “shoved” her into the middle of the circle. Matthew was crying and pleading, shaking his head, denying he’d done anything wrong. Danielle had to do something or she’d be in the same spot.

“Matthew, you better tell your sin,” Danielle wailed. Others joined in.

“Come out of him, you wicked demon. You’re so wicked!”

“You disgust me!”

“You’re going to die and go to hell.”

“You satanist!”

“You’re going to burn in hell.”

“He’s not saying what his sin is,” Brooke exclaimed. Sarah and Patrick’s brother Justin grabbed Matthew and began “beating him in the sternum.” Adam Bartley stood behind Matthew “with his hands wrapped around his neck,” shaking hard. With every line of the prayer came another blow to Matthew’s chest. Matthew felt “frail.” All he could think was, “Is my neck going to break? Am I going to die?”

Danielle thought he might. All the punching, slapping, choking, being thrown to the floor only to be picked up and beaten more. At one point he lost consciousness and urinated in his pants. It went on for two hours.

Danielle couldn’t watch Adam Bartley choking him anymore. She slid her hands under Bartley’s fingers, “trying to peel them off.” Bartley looked at Danielle with wide eyes, then turned to tell Brooke she was interfering. Danielle knew what would happen if she was accused of “getting in the way of God’s will.” She had to think fast. She brought up Matthew’s biopsy on his neck.

“Adam, wait, wait, wait,” she pleaded. “He just had surgery on his neck. Remember?”

Bartley paused and shook his head, satisfied with Danielle’s explanation. He pulled his hands away.

Matthew finally got his “breakthrough.” He panted on the floor, dripping with sweat. His face was ghostly white, his eyes dark and sunken. To Danielle, he looked “like a dead person.”

The crowd broke up. Danielle helped Matthew to his feet and helped him get home. Matthew felt like he’d been flattened by a truck, but there was no time to rest. He had to get out. He waited until Patrick passed in the hallway, then pushed him into the bathroom.

“Look, Patrick, after what happened tonight, I’m getting out of here,” Matthew said. “They’re going to get on to me again. It’s about to get really bad for me here. I can’t do it. I’ve got to go. If I’m going to be safe, I have to leave. You can come with me if you want. Either way, I have to go.”

Patrick didn’t hesitate. “I’m coming,” he said.

“OK. So let’s give it till tomorrow. Tomorrow night we’re out of here,” Matthew said. “You just need to listen to what I say and do it. Just trust me.”

Matthew went over the plans. The next night, they’d each pack a bag, making it look like they were taking work clothes for a church project.

“Just get what you need. We can’t try to take too much. We won’t have time. And we can’t make anyone suspicious,” he said.

Then at 2:10 a.m. they’d sneak out of the house, jump into his mother’s car and drive to his grandparents’ house. He knew they’d take them in. They had been trying to get him out of the church for years.

The next night, everything was set. Matthew kept checking the clock, but couldn’t sleep. He still had some time, so he went to his mother’s room and crawled onto her bed.

“How are you doing, Mom?” he asked, hugging her.

“I’m fine, Matthew, how are you?”

“I’m fine. I need to get ready for bed,” he said. “I just wanted to say I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Matthew palmed the car keys on the night table. He glanced back as he was walking out of the room. He wondered if he would see her again. He went to his room, which he shared with his younger brother Madison, and chatted to him until he drifted off to sleep.

Matthew set the alarm for 1:55 a.m., but he didn’t need it. He couldn’t sleep. He listened as people came into the house from working late at church projects. He counted each time the door closed, trying to account for everyone in the house. His heart raced.

When it was time to meet Patrick, Matthew grabbed a backpack and tossed in extra underwear and a stuffed corduroy bear he’d had since childhood. He slipped on his shoes and began to tiptoe toward the stairs. Suddenly, he heard a bang. He crept down the stairs as fast as he could to the ground floor. It was Patrick; he was coming up another set of stairs from the basement, carrying his trombone. He’d banged it against the wall.

“Put that down and go,” he whispered. “Go, go, go! Don’t look back,” Matthew said. “We’ve gotta get out of here.”

They ran out of the house and down Brooke Breeze Lane, through the woods and finally into Matthew’s mother’s white Ford Edge.

“Here we go!” Matthew said.

Patrick was excited, like a bank robber making an escape after a daring heist. “I can’t believe we’re doing this!”

Matthew turned the key, yanked the stick into Reverse, and stomped the gas pedal, nearly slamming into another vehicle parked in the driveway. He took a deep breath and glanced at Patrick.

“This is it,” Matthew said. He shifted the car into gear and sped down the winding driveway onto Hunting Drive, past the homes of other church members.

“I’m free. I can’t believe it, I’m free!” Patrick shouted.

“I know,” Matthew said. “Let’s listen to some music.”

Matthew pulled out his phone and played the song “Fragile” by John Ralston, soaking in the lyrics he loved before the church took away his ungodly music: “We’re so fragile, we’re so calm. We are innocent of what went wrong…”

Matthew gripped the steering wheel with both hands, hugging curves and blowing through stop signs. Patrick rolled down the window and let out a long “woohoo.” As they pulled into the driveway of Matthew’s grandparents’ house, the two looked at one another and let out a sigh.


“We made it,” Matthew said. “Let’s go inside.”

Matthew’s grandfather answered the door and wiped the sleep from his eyes.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Something bad happened. We had to get out of there,” Matthew said. “Can you please take me to drop Mom’s car off? I don’t want to get in trouble for taking it.”

Matthew drove the car alone. His grandfather and Patrick followed in another vehicle. Matthew left his mother’s car just down the hill from the Covington home. Riding back with his grandfather, he stared out the window.

“Are y’all sure you want to do this?” his grandfather asked. “You know what’s going to happen.”

“Yes,” Matthew said. “We had to get out.”

“Well, you know they’re going to be calling. They’re going to try to get you back.”

“I know,” Matthew said. “It’s going to be a big mess. I just can’t stay there anymore. A bunch of stuff happened. There’s no way I can go back.”

“You know I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”

When they got back to his grandparents’ house, Matthew and Patrick told them everything. It was worse than his grandparents had imagined. They promised to stand by the boys.

“Well, we better get some sleep,” his grandfather said. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” ●

Excerpted from Broken Faith by Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr, Copyright © 2020 by Mitchell Weiss and Holbrook Mohr. Published by Hanover Square Press.


Mitch Weiss is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist with the Associated Press and the co-author most recently of The Heart of Hell: The Untold Story of Courage and Sacrifice in the Shadow of Iwo Jima.

Holbrook Mohr is an award-winning investigative journalist for the Associated Press.

PHOTO ESSAY EXCERPTS
27 Pictures Of Religion During The Coronavirus Pandemic
Religious groups across all creeds are coming to terms with a new normal in which socially distant does not have to mean spiritually apart.

Gabriel H. Sanchez is the Senior Photo Essay Editor for BuzzFeed News 

and is based in New York City.

Posted on March 31, 2020

On Monday, a Florida pastor was arrested and charged in Tampa Bay for disobeying local social distancing measures by holding large church services despite warnings from authorities. In a state where cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, have surpassed 6,000, the arrest marks an escalation in Florida's handling of the outbreak and highlights the difficult reality facing many places of worship around the globe.

Religious groups across all creeds, many of which hold services in intimate quarters, are coming to terms with a new normal in which socially distant does not have to mean spiritually apart. In places hit hardest by the coronavirus outbreak, services are being held remotely, and special precautions are being made to ensure the safety of religious ceremonies. Still, some worshippers continue to gather in large numbers during the pandemic, choosing to place their lives in the hands of their deities over science-based warnings from public officials.

These pictures show how different faiths around the world are navigating the coronavirus pandemic.

MY PIC CHOICES

SCIENCE
This Chart Shows A Historic Spike In Gun Sales After The Coronavirus Hit The US

The coronavirus outbreak has prompted an unprecedented surge in gun sales, exceeding a previous record set after the Sandy Hook mass shooting.

Peter AldhousBuzzFeed News Reporter Posted on April 1, 2020

Peter Aldhous / BuzzFeed News / Via fbi.gov


This chart shows the spike in US gun sales that took place in March, as fear of COVID-19 took hold. The massive spike blows past previous surges in sales set after mass shootings, most prominently after Sandy Hook.

BuzzFeed News estimated gun sales from the FBI’s monthly figures on background checks for gun buyers, using a method developed by Jurgen Brauer of the consultancy Small Arms Analytics & Forecasting. Gun sales are highly seasonal, typically peaking in December, but we removed seasonal trends using a correction method from the US Census Bureau. This reveals any transient spikes that are not part of the seasonal pattern

The spike for March 2020 is unprecedented. The dotted line labeled COVID-19 marks Feb. 29, when the first death from the disease in the US, a male health worker in his fifties from Washington state, was recorded.

In the first half of March, retailers told BuzzFeed News that they were experiencing a surge in gun sales, body armor, and other tactical gear driven by a desire by “preppers” to keep themselves safe in the face of uncertainty. “I think with the way things have escalated quite quickly around the world and in the US in just the last couple of weeks, it's very hard to tell what's going to happen next,” said Kevin Lim, owner of the tactical gear retailer Bulletproof Zone.

“It’s essentially what we anticipated,” Brauer told BuzzFeed News of the spike now revealed in the FBI data.

Over the years, the largest spikes in gun sales have come in the aftermath of high-profile mass shootings, when political debate turned to new gun controls. (Mass shootings, in which four or more people died, are shown as red circles on the chart, sized by the number of people killed. This data was compiled by Mother Jones.) Similar spikes have been seen in several states before new gun controls came into effect.

There was also a spike after Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, apparently because potential gun buyers realized the nation would soon have a president unlikely to veto any attempt by Congress to enact new gun controls. (At a fundraiser during the Democratic primaries, Obama had alienated gun owners by saying that small-town voters “cling to guns or religion.”)

After Donald Trump took office, backed by the gun lobby, massacres like those in Las Vegas in October 2017 and El Paso, Texas, in August 2019 didn’t have the same effect. Even the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018 triggered only a small bump in sales.

The only precedent in recent decades for the wave of fear currently gripping the nation was the reaction to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Those attacks were also followed by a surge in gun sales, but nothing like the spike seen in March 2020.


MORE ON THIS
It’s Not Just Food And Hand Sanitizer — Panicked Coronavirus Shoppers Are Stocking Up On Guns And Body Armor

Ryan Broderick · March 12, 2020
Under Trump, Gun Sales Did Not Spike After The Las Vegas Shooting

Peter Aldhous · Nov. 3, 2017
These Charts And Maps Show How Each State Is Handling The Coronavirus Crisis

Peter Aldhous · March 28, 2020
Peter Aldhous is a Science Reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Said He Only Just Found Out The Coronavirus Can Be Transmitted By People Without SymptomsSTUPID IGNORANT REPUBLICAN NOPE JUST ANOTHER LIAR
The CDC, which is based in Georgia, has been warning for over a month that spread might be possible by people without immediate symptoms.

Julia Reinstein BuzzFeed News Reporter Posted on April 2, 2020

Alyssa Pointer / AP

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced a statewide shelter-in-place order on Wednesday night in an effort to curtail the rapid spread of the coronavirus in his state.

Kemp had recently come under pressure to implement stricter measures, with several Georgia mayors surpassing Kemp to announce their own shelter-in-place orders, including in Atlanta, Savannah, and Athens.

In explaining the state's more cautious response to the pandemic, Kemp said in a press conference that he only just found out that COVID-19 could be transmitted by people before they show symptoms, or what is known as "presymptomatic."

"Those individuals could have been infecting people before they ever felt bad," he said, "but we didn't know that until the last 24 hours."

Kemp said Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, called the news a "game-changer."



Maddow Blog@MaddowBlog
The governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, apparently had no idea until today that people without symptoms can still spread the coronavirus.05:18 AM - 02 Apr 2020

The news is not, in fact, a game-changer. Officials have been warning for more than two months about the possibility of transmission by people who don’t immediately or ever show symptoms.

"You know that, in the beginning, we were not sure if there were asymptomatic infection, which would make it a much broader outbreak than what we’re seeing. Now we know for sure that there are," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a White House press briefing on Jan. 31.

The CDC, which is based in Georgia, has been warning since at least the beginning of March that presymptomatic spread might be possible.

"Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms," read the CDC website in early March. "There have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads."

CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield also said on Feb. 13 that spread was possible between people who were asymptomatic, meaning they never experience symptoms.

“There’s been good communication with our colleagues to confirm asymptomatic infection, to confirm asymptomatic transmission, to be able to get a better handle on the clinical spectrum of illness in China," he told CNN. "What we don’t know though is how much of the asymptomatic cases are driving transmission."

"What I’ve learned in the last two weeks is that the spectrum of this illness is much broader than was originally presented. There’s much more asymptomatic illness," Redfield said.

Redfield did tell NPR Monday that it had since been "pretty much confirmed" that as many as 25% of people with COVID-19 remain asymptomatic.

"That's important, because now you have individuals that may not have any symptoms that can contribute to transmission," he said, "and we have learned that in fact they do contribute to transmission."

Scientific studies had been suggesting since mid-March that anywhere between 18% and 86% of people with COVID-19 do not have symptoms or at least are not diagnosed as having the disease.


Alyssa Pointer / AP



Journalist at Gov. Brian Kemp's press conference on Wednesday.


Cases of people who do not immediately show symptoms are believed to be one of the reasons the virus is spreading so widely, because carriers may not know they are infected and go about their business, infecting others.

There are currently more than 4,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia. More than 150 people have died from the disease in the state.

Jon Ossoff, a Democrat running for US Senate in Georgia, said Kemp's "excuse for late action is a lie."

"The truth is Kemp ignored those warnings and failed to grapple with the speed and severity of this outbreak," he said. "The record must reflect these facts.”

Stephanie Lee contributed reporting.

Julia Reinstein is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

RIP
Jazz great Ellis Marsalis Jr. passes away at 85 while battling pneumonia brought on by the coronavirus

By ASSOCIATED PRESS 2 April 2020

Ellis Marsalis Jr., jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan that includes famed performer sons Wynton and Branford, has died after battling pneumonia brought by the new coronavirus, at the age of 85.

Ellis Marsalis III confirmed in a phone interview with The Associated Press that his father's death was brought about by the virus that is causing the global pandemic.

'Pneumonia was the actual thing that caused his demise. But it was pneumonia brought on by COVID-19,' said the younger Marsalis, speaking of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.


R.I.P.: Ellis Marsalis Jr., jazz pianist, teacher and patriarch of a New Orleans musical clan that includes famed performer sons Wynton and Branford, has died after battling pneumonia brought by the new coronavirus, at the age of 85

He said he drove from Baltimore on Sunday to be with his father as he was hospitalized, adding that others in the family also were able to spend time with their father.


Four of the jazz patriarch's six sons are musicians: Wynton, the trumpeter, is America's most prominent jazz spokesman as artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York.

Branford, the saxophonist, led The Tonight Show band and toured with Sting. Delfeayo, trombonist, is a prominent recording producer and performer.

And Jason, the drummer, has made a name for himself with his own band and as an accompanist. Ellis III, who decided music was not his gig, is a photographer-poet in Baltimore.


Father: He said he drove from Baltimore on Sunday to be with his father as he was hospitalized, adding that others in the family also were able to spend time with their father

'I was with him in the hospital for six or seven hours yesterday. Branford was with him Monday, I was with him yesterday and Jason was with him today. He passed right after Jason departed,' Ellis III said.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the musician's death in a somber news release Wednesday night. The elder Marsalis had continued to perform regularly in New Orleans until December.

'Ellis Marsalis was a legend. He was the prototype of what we mean when we talk about New Orleans jazz,' Cantrell said in her statement.

'He was a teacher, a father, and an icon - and words aren´t sufficient to describe the art, the joy and the wonder he showed the world.'


Performer: New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced the musician's death in a somber news release Wednesday night. The elder Marsalis had continued to perform regularly in New Orleans until December

Because Marsalis opted to stay in New Orleans for most of his career, his reputation was limited until his sons became famous and brought him the spotlight, along with new recording contracts and headliner performances on television and on tour.

'He was like the coach of jazz. He put on the sweatshirt, blew the whistle and made these guys work,' said Nick Spitzer, host of public radio´s American Routes and an anthropology professor at Tulane University.

The Marsalis 'family band' seldom played together when the boys were younger, but in 2003 toured up East in a spinoff of a family celebration that became a PBS special when the elder Marsalis retired from teaching at the University of New Orleans.

WHAT A GREAT HOODOO CANE

New Orleans: Because Marsalis opted to stay in New Orleans for most of his career, his reputation was limited until his sons became famous and brought him the spotlight, along with new recording contracts and headliner performances on television and on tour

Harry Connick Jr., one of Marsalis' students at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, was a guest. He is just one of the many now-famous jazz musicians who passed through the Marsalis classrooms; others include trumpeters Nicholas Payton and Terence Blanchard, saxophonists Donald Harrison and Victor Goines, and bassist Reginald Veal.

Marsalis was born in New Orleans, son of the operator of a hotel where Marsalis met touring black musicians who could not stay at the segregated downtown hotels where they performed. He played saxophone in high school but was also playing piano by the time he went to Dillard University.

Although New Orleans was steeped in traditional jazz, and rock 'n' roll was the new sound in the city's studios in the 1950s, Marsalis preferred bebop and modern jazz.


Modern Jazz: Although New Orleans was steeped in traditional jazz, and rock 'n' roll was the new sound in the city's studios in the 1950s, Marsalis preferred bebop and modern jazz

Spitzer described Marsalis as a 'modernist in a town of traditionalists.'

'His great love was jazz a la bebop - he was a lover of Thelonious Monk and the idea that bebop was a music of freedom. But when he had to feed his family he played R 'n' B and soul and rock and roll on Bourbon Street,' said Spitzer.

The musician's college quartet included drummer Ed Blackwell, clarinetist Alvin Batiste and saxophonist Harold Battiste playing modern.

Ornette Coleman was in town at the time, and in 1956 when Coleman headed to California, Marsalis and the others went with him, but after a few months Marsalis came back home. He told the New Orleans Times-Picayune years later, when he and Coleman were old men, that he never did figure out what a pianist could do behind the free form of Coleman's jazz.


Quartet: The musician's college quartet included drummer Ed Blackwell, clarinetist Alvin Batiste and saxophonist Harold Battiste playing modern

Back in New Orleans, Marsalis joined the Marine Corps and was assigned to accompany soloists on the service's weekly TV programs on CBS in New York. It was there, he said, that he learned to handle all kinds of different music styles.

On returning home, he worked at the Playboy Club and ventured into running his own club, which quickly went bust. In 1967 trumpeter Al Hirt hired him. When not on Bourbon Street, Hirt's band was appearing on national TV - doing headline shows on The Tonight Show and The Ed Sullivan Show, among others.

Marsalis got into education about the same time, teaching improvisation at Xavier University in New Orleans, and in the mid-1970s joined the faculty at the New Orleans magnet high school where he influenced a new generation of young jazz musicians.

When asked how he could teach something as free-wheeling as jazz improvisation, Marsalis once said, 'We don't teach jazz, we teach students.'


Jazz studies: In 1986 he moved to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond as coordinator of Jazz Studies, a post he kept until 1989 when the University of New Orleans lured him back to set up a program of jazz studies at home

In 1986 he moved to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond as coordinator of Jazz Studies, a post he kept until 1989 when the University of New Orleans lured him back to set up a program of jazz studies at home.

Marsalis retired from UNO in 2001, but continued to perform, particularly at Snug Harbor in New Orleans, a small jazz club that anchored the city's contemporary jazz scene - frequently backing young musicians who had promise.

His melodic style, with running improvisations in the right hand, has been described variously as romantic, contemporary, or simply 'Louisiana jazz.' He is always on acoustic piano, never electric, and even in interpreting the old standards there´s a clear link to the driving bebop chords and rhythms of his early years.

He founded his own record company, ELM (taken from his initials), but his recording was limited until his sons became famous. After that he joined them and other musicians on mainstream labels and headlined his own releases, many full of his own compositions.

He often played at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. For more than three decades he played two 75-minute sets every Friday night at Snug Harbor until he decided it had become too exhausting. But even then he still performed there on occasion as a special guest.

Marsalis' wife, Dolores, died in 2017. He is survived by his sons Branford, Wynton, Ellis III, Delfeayo, Mboya and Jason.


Family: Marsalis' wife, Dolores, died in 2017. He is survived by his sons Branford, Wynton, Ellis III, Delfeayo, Mboya and Jason

---30---

CAPITALISM COLLAPSES IN THE USA 

COVID-19 PANDEMIC CREATES 

MASS UNEMPLOYMENT NOT SEEN SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION

(WHAT WAS GREAT ABOUT IT WAS IT COULD HAVE LED TO)

A MASS STRIKE FOR SOCIALISM

NO MORE PROTESTS TIME TO REVOLT

Get out of Iraq once and for all


A message in support of this petition from Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate:
"I was in Iraq during the sanctions put on by USA and was horrified to visit hospitals where Iraq children died, without medicine as a result of these barbaric sanctions and war against Iraq. It is estimated that over half a million Iraqi children under age 6 died as a result of sanctions, and I am very sorry and ask for the forgiveness of all those who lost children and families due to the perpetual sanctions and war against their country. It is overdue that USA respect the wishes of Iraqi people and their government and leave Iraq immediately."

Just the phase of the mass killing and destruction of Iraq that began 17 years ago, assessed by the most scientifically respected measures available, killed over 1.4 million Iraqis.

Join us now in demanding once and for all: U.S. troops out of Iraq!



While U.S. troops have been reduced in Iraq, they have never been removed. In January, the Iraqi Parliament voted that all U.S. troops should leave. The U.S. government has refused to leave, and has instead proposed installing ("defensive") missiles in Iraq targeting Iran.

While Iran is depicted in U.S. media as an evil enemy, the U.S. military does not claim that Iran is a threat to the actual United States, only to U.S. troops near Iran and U.S. "interests." The refusal to leave and the decision to install missiles endanger Iraq, Iran, the entire region, and a world at risk of nuclear escalation and climate collapse that cannot afford any more wars.


The aerial bombardment of Baghdad 17 years ago, which was intended to “shock and awe” people into terror and submission, followed months of pro-war propaganda in U.S. corporate media and from the U.S. government.

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Joe Biden promoted the White House’s lies about weapons of mass destruction, pushed hard for war, and orchestrated hearings that excluded dissenting voices.

Many were fooled or claimed to be. Donald Trump’s last public comment on the war before it started was that he supported it.

It is now popular in U.S. politics to deny having supported the war, even to claim to have ended it. But there is virtually no discussion of the moral and practical necessity of complying with the wishes of the Iraqi government – wishes that line up with a demand that many of us have been making for 17 years – to withdraw all U.S. troops and mercenaries and bases and weapons from Iraqi soil.Click here to join us in making that demand. We'll be able to do more with this petition if you've signed it and if you've asked others to sign it too.



After signing the petition, please use the tools on the next webpage to share it with your friends.

This work is only possible with your financial support. Please chip in $3 now.



-- The RootsAction.org Team

P.S. RootsAction is an independent online force endorsed by Jim Hightower, Barbara Ehrenreich, Cornel West, Daniel Ellsberg, Glenn Greenwald, Naomi Klein, Bill Fletcher Jr., Laura Flanders, former U.S. Senator James Abourezk, Frances Fox Piven, Phil Donahue, Sonali Kolhatkar, and many others.

Background:
>> CNN: “Iraqi Parliament Votes for Plan to End U.S. Troop Presence in Iraq After Soleimani Killing”
>> Mideast Eye: “U.S. Offers Iraq Partial Pullback”
>> Newsweek: “U.S. Sending Missile Defense [sic] to Iraq”
>> David Swanson: “Ever More Shocked, Never Yet Awed”
>> Video: “Worth the Price: Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War”
>> FactCheck.org: “Donald Trump and the Iraq War”

ALL WE HAVE IS EACH OTHER MUTUAL AID PM PRESS

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