NEW ALBANY, Ind. — New numbers released Sunday by the Indiana State Department of Health show 120 people have died from the coronavirus.
As cases climb, local departments are working to stay prepared. The Floyd County Health Department reached out to local churches requesting grief counseling.
One of those churches is St. Marks United Church of Christ in New Albany. The church already shut down its soup kitchen and clothes closet due to the virus.
“It’s really hard to do any outreach right now,” said Senior Pastor John Manzo, noting that many of the volunteers in the church fall under the high-risk category.
Manzo has switched to Facebook Live to deliver services on Sunday morning. He says the Floyd County Health Department reached out and asked if he would also be willing to provide grief services should the need arise.
“I’m happy to do it and available to do it,” he said on Sunday, adding that he’s hopeful he doesn’t have to do it. “When I say I hope I never have to do it, it isn’t an unwillingness to do it, it’s that I hope that there’s not a lot of deaths that we have to do a whole lot of it but I’m fearful that there will be.”
Manzo said this is the first time he’s been asked by a health department to do something like this, “But it’s my first pandemic as a pastor.”
He says any service will still adhere to social distancing guidelines.
“In some instances, it may have to be on the telephone, it may have to be on Facetime, it may have to be on Zoom,” he said. “Whatever people need, the plan would be to try to respond to them as I can.”
Those requesting grief counseling can call the church directly. The churches participating can be found on the Floyd County Health Department’s Facebook page.
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