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Bishop Gerald O. Glenn, a pastor in Virginia who continued to hold church services despite warnings from the government to limit the size of gatherings in public, has died from the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Glenn held his last in-person service on March 22, according to the New York Post.
His wife, Marcietia Glenn, reportedly also has the virus.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved Bishop Gerald O. Glenn, the Founder and Pastor of New Deliverance Evangelistic Church on Saturday, April 11, 2020 @ 9:00 PM. Please be in prayer with us for Mother Marcietia Glenn, our first family & the NDEC church family,” the church said in a statement.
“We ask that you respectfully allow our First Family to grieve in their own way. We will announce final arrangements within the next few days. Be blessed and don’t stop praying for one another.”
Glenn’s daughter, Mar-Gerie Crawley, is urging people to take the coronavirus seriously.
“It becomes very real to you,” she told local news outlet WTVR. “I just beg people to understand the severity and the seriousness of this, because people are saying it’s not just about us, it’s about everyone around us.”
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 22,800 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
