Religion as a Health Promoter During the 2019/2020 COVID Outbreak: View from Detroit
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Religion as a Health Promoter During the 2019/2020 COVID Outbreak: View from Detroit Stephen M. Modell1 · Sharon L. R. Kardia1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The 2019/2020 COVID outbreak has surfaced as a global pandemic. The news has carried stories of the heroic efforts of medical and other health practitioners, with public health officials charting the course of spread. In an urban center like Detroit, the generosity of everyday citizens and church organizations has also played an important role. This inspection of the pandemic from the view of Detroit will examine the epidemiology of the coronavirus, translation of professional practice into people’s awareness of the chronic disease risk factors which are prevalent in Detroit, moral and ethical views on the distribution of resources, and three major ways that religious faith has helped to sustain people’s health and welfare in the midst of the broad social challenges posed by this novel coronavirus. Keywords COVID-19 · Diabetes · Pandemics · Religion · Ethics · Public health · Urban population · Social environment
Introduction: A Vacated Detroit The view from the towering buildings of Detroit captures the brand new Little Caesars hockey—concert arena, budding software companies in adjacent buildings, and the restoration of the 18-story Michigan Central Station shuttered in 1988. But now it displays empty office buildings and roads, like Detroit’s central Woodward Avenue, nearly void of cars and pedestrians, all due to COVID-19. As of April 23, 2020, Michigan is seventh in the USA for COVID-19 coronavirus cases (33,929) and third in terms of deaths (2812) (Statista 2020a, b). Most everyone in Detroit and its surrounding communities has been affected. For the authors, the cancelation of * Stephen M. Modell [email protected] Sharon L. R. Kardia [email protected] 1
Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, M5049, SPH II 1415 Washington Hts., Ann Arbor, MI 48109‑2029, USA
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Journal of Religion and Health
a career day presentation at Detroit Country Day School on a typical day in the life of a public health academician turned into a consoling letter for at-home students on the importance of prevention and the essential value of public health among the other health-related professions. A nephew returning in a rush to Chicago from Israel caught the coronavirus and then thankfully recovered within 2 weeks, possibly due to his age, having recently graduated from college. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its 13-page Interim Guidance for Administrators and Leaders of Community- and Faith-Based Organizations to Plan, Prepare, and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) which contained diplomatically worded, now understated instructions to “monitor and plan for absenteeism” (CDC 2020, p. 5). In truth, Detroit is known for its myriad overly active churches, mosques, and synagogues, all of which were ironically desolate on days co
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