Know, inch and a half tall head in a tiny zoom box that sometimes cuts out in the middle of the meeting, especially when hes talking. I mean its anarchy at this point. So thanks for being here tonight for this hour and a half. Lets do this thing. All right. We start tonight in beautiful Wright County, minnesota. Wrigright county. Its sort of on the way between minneapolis and sit. Cloud. They call minnesota the land of 10,000 lakes. Wright county is one of the places that makes that make sense. The towns in Wright County are like smith lake and howard lake and french lake and maple lake. And in between maple lake, minnesota, and the next town over, which is called annandale, there are two catholic churches between those two towns. Saint ignatius and saint timothys. These are two pretty small towns. Theyre less than ten miles apart. Theres 2,000 or 3,000 people in both maple lake and in annandale. And while that, you know, five or ten miles between Saint Ignatius and saint timothys is enough distance to justify having two separate catholic churches for those two towns, its apparently not enough to justify having two different sets of clergy serving those two churches. So between annandale and maple lake, minnesota, between Saint Ignatius and saint timothys, the same three priests oversee the services for both churches in both towns. They split themselves between the two churches. Theres father meyer, father andrew, and monday senior callahan. And between the three of them, they take care of services at both those churches in both of those towns. You might have seen some of the National Headlines this week generated by the catholic bishops in minnesota. They kind of pounded their chests this week and proclaimed that they would defy the state Public Health orders in minnesota. They declared that catholic churches in minnesota would break the state rules designed to limit the spread of coronavirus. The bishops declared that catholic churches in minnesota will open up and celebrate mass in person with their congregations this weekend regardless of what minnesota Public Health officials and the minnesota governor have said is necessary to deal with the epidemic there. So you might have seen these headlines whether or not you live in minnesota because the bishops got National Attention for their letter announcing that they would defy the law. Quote, how can reason require us any longer to keep our faithful from coming to mass, to receive communion, to receive the eucharist . Thats whats happening broadly in minnesota. But in maple lake minnesota, and annandale, minnesota, that battle cry from the bishops statewide is landing sort of awkwardly in those communities. Heres the letter from father meyer to his congregation at saint timothys this week. Quote, im sharing this in light of masses in the days ahead. While you may have read that the archbishop has allowed for churches to open and have public masses again, we will need to see how things transpire for the clergy here at saint timothys and saint igignatius. I know you are understandably aeg toeager to have the sacrame again as soon as possible. Obviously we do not want to spread the virus and want to make sure the clergy have either tested negative over overcome the symptoms of the virus for a number of days before celebrating mass with you. Quote, yesterday afternoon we learned that some parishioners of Saint Ignatius with whom father andrew and i have been in contact tested positive for the covid19 virus. Father andrew has tested positive as well. Monday senior callahan and i have recently developed symptoms and are awaiting our own test results. The parishioners of Saint Ignatius should be aware that one of the volunteers that helped with the distribution of flowers for mothers day has been feeling unwell and was exposed to others with the virus. I wanted to share this so that you are aware and could be especially attentive to any symptoms that might develop if you have recently interacted with any of the clergy. I want to share this now so youre aware why we may not come back to public masses as soon as other churches. With all three clergy potentially affected, it would be very difficult for us to do so in the near future. With all three clergy from those two churches down from the virus, yeah, were not going to be able to open up in defiance of the state Public Health orders like the bishops say we ought to across the state. Thats whats happening in Wright County, minnesota. This is texas. This is the Holy Ghost Catholic Church in bellaire, texas, which is part of the sprawling houston metropolitan area. At holy ghost, they reopened and started doing mass for their parishioners again at the beginning of this month because texas republican Governor Greg Abbott told churches across the state of texas that it was fine and they needed to reopen. Well, last week one of the priests from holy ghost died. Five of the other priests at the religious order where he lived have also now tested positive. The archdiocese in housto houst sent out a warning. If you have attended masses in person at Holy Ghost Church since the reopening on may 2nd, you are strongly encouraged to monit monitor your health for any symptoms and be tested for covid19. Thats according to the archdiocese. Its not your typical archdiocesen communication. Again, the governor of texas told all the churches in the state to reopen, and they did. But now with one priest dead, five others down from the virus, holy ghost has reclosed its doors despite governor abbotts order that they ought to reopen. And, you know, this is not a new phenomenon in this american epidemic. It has been this way from the very beginning. Contact tracing has told us so. A woman named viola horton attended a rural Church Service at a baptist congregation in rural marion county, West Virginia, back on march 15th. Her sisterinlaw was the reverend at the church and was celebrating her anniversary as the leader of that church. That gathering at that one church in West Virginia that one day is estimated to have infected 30 of the people who were in attendance. Five people who attended that Church Celebration that one day were hospitalized by the end of the first week after that service. Ms. Viola horton was dead within two weeks of that service, and she was the first person in West Virginia who is known to have died from coronavirus. Last month in kentucky Health Officials traced more than 30 coronavirus cases and three deaths and Community Spread of the disease across multiple counties including into a kentucky meatpacking plant they traced all of those cases back to a Single Church revival meeting in hopkins county, kentucky. In california right now, a single Church Service on mothers day is being blamed for new clusters of the virus in label county and mendocino county, california. In butte county, california, right now theyre trying to track down 180 people who attended a congregate Church Service in person in defiance of the Public Health order in that state that prohibited such gatherings. Public Health Officials are trying to find everybody who went to that Church Service because they learned that at least one person at that service tested positive the day after that service, and so theyre now trying to Contact Trace the whole congregation because at that event, it seems like they were all exposed. Last month one of the first cdc formal reports, the first mwr report tracing a large cluster of cases in chicago, identified one Church Service on one day as one of the places where documented new infections took place. The new mmwr that just came out from cdc this week traces another cluster to a church in rural arkansas where the pastor and his wife did not know that they were infected, but they were. And over the course of one week, they infected 38 of their congregation, and so far three people have died. I was also surprised to learn this today about what now counts as the worst outbreak in the country. The outbreak at the Navajo Nation, which spans parts of three different states, a little bit of utah, also new mexico and arizona. The Arizona Republic did great work today teasing out of the data geographically specific information about that outbreak on the Navajo Nation to try to figure out not just how bad it is there, but how bad it is compared with other parts of the country. And what the Arizona Republic was able to find is that in the northern particularly isolated part of the Navajo Nation, the number of cases per population in specific regions there is higher than even in the worsthit zip codes in new york city. Navajo Health Officials also say that that worsthit region within Navajo Nation is where they think the Navajo Nation outbreak began, and they have traced the beginning of the Navajo Nation outbreak, which again is the worst one in the country they have traced it back to a specific Church Revival meeting on a specific day in early march in the Navajo Nation. Thats where they believe it took hold. And now again that is the worst outbreak in america, worst per capita than the hardesthit zip codes in new york city. So when the president today pounded his chest a little bit and announced that he will insist as president that all Church Services be held in person this weekend all over the country, and i will somehow magically override any state rule that would seek to prohibit that kind of a gathering, i mean the president , you know, knows what hes playing with in doing that. This has been an out loud, documented, upfront part of our experience of this epidemic from the very beginning. And, no, the president does not have the power to overall state Public Health rules and demand that all churches hold inperson services but him trying to create the impression he has that power will have some of that effect anyway. We will see what the president has wrought for this weekend in america in the middle of the Worst Epidemic on earth. And then in, what, three weeks or so, in some places if were lucky, well be able to do the Contact Tracing for what happens this weekend. Once theyve done the Contact Tracing, presumably well be able to give him all the credit he deserves for what will happen this weekend because we know what is going to happen at Church Services held in the open in congregate this weekend. We know whats going to happen because were already living through it at a smaller scale from earlier on in this epidemic in america, when the total number of cases in the community was smaller than it is right now. We already know what Church Services have done in terms of creating what turn into large clusters. In one case, which turns into what is now the largest outbreak in the country, the worst outbreak in the country. I mentioned new york as a point of comparison for the Navajo Nation. I should tell you this, to me, is still the big picture tale of where we are at as a country. Its one very simple graph that weve been updating day by day, and it shows cases of coronavirus over time. New york is the blue line there. You can see how they have squashed their curve down and gone flat in terms of adding new cases in new york. The other line is the rest of the country minus new york. So really its new york that is coming down. The rest of the country just keeps going up, up, up, up. Aint no stopping us now. You keep hearing this news about how the United States is really is flattening out in terms of our new cases, in terms of the shape of our epidemic. The shape of the epidemic in this country is not flattening out. New york is doing better, and the rest of the country is. And that has consequences as we head into this fine memorial day weekend, and the states are opening up with abandon. The great state of arkansas just logged its largest daily increase in cases yet since the beginning of the epidemic, theyve never had a larger daily increase in cases than they have just had. In the same breath he announced that, the governor of arkansas, asa hutchinson, announced that in othaddition to having more n cases, were also announcing that Sports Events are back on. Play ball. In florida, nice beach weather coming this weekend. Yesterday florida announced its highest daily case numbers since midapril. So, you know, open everything up. Theres going to be a 70team youth baseball tournament held in Brevard County this weekend. 70 teams. Theyre expecting 1,500 people all together for that baseball tournament this weekend. Just had their largest case numbers in more than a month. In alabama, their numbers have been rising all month long in terms of new daily cases. Last night we had the mayor of montgomery, alabama, here on the show. Montgomery is alabamas capital city. The mayor was here because he is raising the alarm that his citys Hospital Capacity in alabama is, in his words, maxed out. As of today, icu beds in montgomery, alabama, are at 97 occupancy heading into the Holiday Weekend, and the case numbers in montgomery just continue to rise. The governor of alabama actually took questions on the situation in montgomery today, and then in the same breath announced a further loosening of the rules statewide. The rules designed to keep people from further spreading the virus in that state. Good luck, montgomery hospitals. Good luck, doctors and nurses. Good luck. See what you can do with what youve got. But its not just a phenomenon in the south. In omaha, nebraska, today the medical director at one local Medical CenterJust Announced that theyre at 80 capacity now and seeing steady growth upwards. This was the lede in the omaha worldherald. Hospitalizations in the omaha metro area are on a worrisome upward climb. Nebraska governor pericketts sa he feels comfortable loosening restrictions in that state. Hes saying, i feel great. Everything seems good. Lets loosen up. Shes saying, i run this Medical Center in the largest city in the state and we are filling up steadily, and it is very worrying. She said last night, quote, ill tell you now is the time to be wearing a mask. Did you see this week, these didnt circulate very widely. I think they should have. Theyre amazing. Did you see the wear a mask psas that new york showed off this week . I think theyre not official yet. As best i understand it, new york asked people to submit their own Public Service announcements about why you should wear a mask. And what they circulated this week, i believe, are the finalists, like the best ones according to the state. And theyre really good. Theyre also really, really, really new york. Watch this. I love new york. We love new york. Weve been stuck inside our homes. While our everyday heroes have been working overtime. For new york to reopen and stay open we all need to do our part. And show that we care. Look, man. I wear a mask to protect you. You wear a mask to protect me. Lets all wear a mask. To stop the spread of coronavirus. And save lives. When we show up in a mask. Were showing up for each other. Show your love for new york. Because new york loves you. The textbook says politicians lead. No, sometimes the people lead, and the politicians follow. Follow the American People. They will do the right thing. There is still a right thing. Maybe right thing is a new york expression. New york tough. Theyre really good, right . Arent they good . But theyre also the most new york thing in the world. I mean sometimes in new york you feel like theres america and theres new york. Other times you feel like, oh, new york is kind of the capital of america, the nongovernment capital of america. Then you see stuff like this, and its like, thats very new yorkspecific. The reason youve got mask stuff like that thats so new yorkspecific is because new york is taking the mask thing really seriously. Even as new yorks curve is coming down and the rest of the country is going up, new york is taking additional mitigation measures very seriously. Meanwhile, in the rest of the country where things are were heading into the memorial day weekend. All these states are opening back up. All of these states on this list here have no recommendation or requirement for people to wear masks when they are out and about. We think at least three of these states have no recommendation or requirement for anybody to wear masks either as a resident or at any place of business. I mean the cdc actually does have an overt recommendation for the whole country that people wear masks, but theres no National Effort to promote it like new york city in new york are tryi