An upcoming series of concerts by a Christian singer who frequently flouts coronavirus health safeguards has officials in the Los Angeles area concerned about a potential “superspreader” event, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Los Angeles County and the southern region of California have reentered lockdown after the state recorded a drastic spike in coronavirus cases in those areas, a situation that is likely to last for more than a month.
Sean Feucht, a volunteer pastor from Redding, California, who once ran for Congress as a Republican, plans on holding what he and his supporters call a “massive outreach” on Wednesday evening on skid row. This follows his series of open-air concerts, billed as “Let Us Worship,” that have run across the country to protest lockdowns intended to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“The problem we’re facing is even prior to the stay-at-home order, people come into the community and say they’re bringing resources but what they’re bringing is the disease,” said Stephen “Cue” Jn-Marie, the pastor of the skid row congregation Church Without Walls.
“It doesn’t take thousands to start an outbreak,” he added.
The area’s representative on the city council, Councilman Kevin de León, told the Times that his office and the mayor’s staff will be on skid row in the morning on Wednesday to hand out personal protective equipment and sanitation kits.
“Our expectation is that those attending the scheduled outreach event take steps to care for our community and protect vulnerable Angelenos on skid row by wearing masks and honoring social distancing guidelines,” de Leon said in a statement.