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VOLUME 163
The LaFayette Sun
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020
NO.37
Have a Fun Filled Easter Tiny Chambers County epicenter of Alabama pandemic- Here’s how it started By Jody Stewart
Chambers County is far outpacing the state’s 66 other counties in both coronavirus infections and deaths, and local medical and civic leaders have said they believe it may be connected to church services, one of which a church leader says left at least 10 people sick. As of 8 p.m. Monday, 96 people in Chambers County were confirmed to have COVID-19 infections. Though other counties, such as Jefferson County, have higher case counts, Chambers’ per capita infection rate is a staggering 223 per 100,000, nearly four times its closest rival. Chambers’ outbreak also appears to be the state’s most lethal: Despite having far less cases than counties like Jefferson, Chambers on Monday had the highest number of overall deaths, with 7 confirmed coronavirus fatalities. Chambers’ outbreak shows no signs of slowing as cases doubled in a 48-hour period this week. Statewide orders have now been made to confront the threat head on and cut down on social gathering.
A Lanett church is a sobering example of how quickly and silently coronavirus infections may have spread. On March 21, Pastor Lamar Johnson gave a somber video address on Facebook, telling his congregation he’d prayed over the decision for days and that he would be closing the church. “Tomorrow, I’m going to preach to an empty sanctuary. I’m locking down Mount Hermon. Nobody is allowed in Mount Hermon tomorrow because I’ve gotta protect my people. It’s just going to be me, musicians and a sound crew.” Five days after he closed the church, Johnson announced on Facebook that at least 10 church members had been hospitalized with coronavirus complications. Johnson used social media addresses to reach his congregation, Johnson urged his congregations to take the coronavirus threat seriously. “We got too many members sick. I am not opening up the church until this thing has passed. I will go in, along with the musicians and the media
team, but the church will not open until this has passed,” Johnson said. “... If you feel like you’re sick, get yourself checked out. If you feel like you have a temperature, get yourself checked out. As a church, we need to pray. I’m not opening up the church. Hear me one more time. ... This is no time to be playing. I got too many members sick.” In an interview with BeeTV, Johnson said a
family member reached out to him around March 17 to tell him that six out of a group of 10 people had fallen ill after attending a special service on March 8. Soon, he began receiving texts from church members of other illnesses. “I run my own house,” Johnson said. “But I will say, it would hurt me if I had church and one of my senior members died. It would hurt me if one of the members would get sick
because of my negligence. Right now, we have to look at the safety of the people. I’ll preach to an empty sanctuary for another month, another two months if I have to. But the Word will get out.” Two days after Johnson said he first heard of illnesses connected to the March 8 service, 29-yearold Cherith Beth Slaughter woke up feeling dizzy. Slaughter, a Lee County resident and one of a “long
line of pastors,” attended the service the March 8 service with her father. Her father returned to Mt. Hermon the following Sunday to preach again, she said. Now, Slaughter, her father and her mother have all been diagnosed with coronavirus, quarantined in a home with only one healthy family member left to care for them. Slaughter said she has double pneumonia as a coronavirus Continues on page 2
Area resident describes her coronavirus experience By John C. West
LaGrange resident, Gayle Marie Truitt, had been sick off and on for a week at the beginning of March. Her early symptoms were simple: a wet cough, exhaustion, and chills. Some days she felt fine, other days she was wiped out. She certainly didn’t think she had contracted COVID-19. The Coronavirus was just beginning to gain traction in the United states at that point. There were only a handful of cases nationwide, and none in Georgia. At the time, Truitt, a grand-mother, mother, and school teacher, didn’t have any of the symptoms
that were associated with COVID-19. The symptoms she had, however, continued to persist. “I didn’t match any of the symptoms,” Truitt says, of the virus. “I don’t remember feeling especially bad that Monday, but came home, went to bed and got up, I think before my alarm clock, went off and had a fever. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with bronchitis.” However, the medicine Truitt had been prescribed wasn’t working and her condition did not improve. “I had run some fever and I just really still didn’t feel good. I didn’t feel like I was competent to go back to work. The fatigue is
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unreal.” That Friday proved to be pivotal for Truitt, however. She had been running a fever, but had gotten cold while sleeping in her bed. She got up to find an extra blanket and while looking accidentally hit her left eye on an open dresser drawer. Later that day, she called her mother-in-law to check on her. They decided to go back to the same clinic where Truitt had been diagnosed with bronchitis. At that point, Truitt was feeling better and didn’t mention her cough. The doctor looked at her eye, gave her some medicine and told her to come back the following day so they
could check on how she was healing. The next day, Truitt returned for her follow up appointment, but her cough had gotten worse. “I went in, I looked great, and told them my cough was back,” Truitt says. “I had finished my z-pack that morning and the doctor put the stethoscope up to my lungs and, as soon as she listened, she was like, ‘I think you need to be tested,’” referring to Coronavirus COVID-19. Testing for COVID-19 was still rare at this point. Neither the clinic, nor the emergency room were administering the tests. They were available were only for high risk individuals.
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Gayle Truitt
Truitt made a few phone calls and was told “No.” She went home, instead. Her mother-in-law tried to get Truitt to go home with her. Truitt refused though. If she had COVID-19, she didn’t want to risk giving it to anybody in her family. Her motherin-law reluctantly took Truitt to her own house. “She was not very happy with me,” Truitt says. “She knew I was sicker than I knew.”
Without Truitt knowing, her mother-in-law chose to take action. She e-mailed the governor’s office and told them about Truitt’s condition. Within 15 minutes, the Department of Public Health called her back. They told her to take Truitt to the emergency room. They would be expecting her, have a mask ready and would take her Continues on page 2