Good day,

I haven’t given a COVID-19 update in a while so I thought I’d do that today. The Algoma health unit area has 43 active cases. Given the fact that many people are testing at home or not testing at all, this is not considered an accurate reflection of actual cases. There are six people in hospital and one more person died from COVID last week. The vast majority of the cases reported are in “Sault and Area”.  Bottom line: it is still out there and it is still dangerous for many people. 

How are our neighbours doing? Remembering that these numbers are an understatement of actual cases…Algoma sits at 29.7 new cases per week per 100, 000 people; the Porcupine health unit area is 25.2 and the Sudbury area has 40.7.   This doesn’t mean that it’s good news for all northern health unit areas. The Northwestern Health unit area is at 216.7 and the Thunder Bay area is at 103.4.  (Last reported on Algoma Health Unit website on June 16, 2022). 

In Ontario, during the week of June 12 – June 18 (which is the last reported data in the Weekly Epidemiological Summary), there were 4372 new reported cases.  Do you remember how you felt when numbers like that first started happening? I remember people being very alarmed. Now it’s more of a “ho-hum”.  We’ve become accustomed to seeing numbers like that but, given the fact that these are only reported cases, it really does not seem wise to relax too much.  Self-screening among church goers is crucial in order to stop the spread. If you would like to read the weekly summary by Public Health Ontario for yourself, here is the link:   https://www.publichealthontario.ca/-/media/Documents/nCoV/epi/covid-19-weekly-epi-summary-report.pdf?sc_lang=en  One thing that really jumped out at me is that hospitalizations for children under 1 year of age had increased and was actually noticeable on the graph along with the “over 80’s” whereas other age groups were not.  

On a different note, is there anyone out there who will be having a special worship service or fundraiser this summer? Please let me know and I will let others know.

For Your Devotions:

Monday, July 4th is the Holy Day of St. Thomas the Apostle.(The actual day is July 3rd but, since that was a Sunday, Thomas got moved to today – unless your church happens to be named after St. Thomas of course).  One of the 12 apostles, the most information we have of him is found in the Gospel of John. He was extremely devoted to Jesus and the best known incident we know of him is the ‘doubting Thomas’ story (but I think Thomas is unfairly singled out – the apostles all doubted…There’s a lot more to Thomas’ story than doubt). After the death of Jesus, Thomas’ history is sketchy but he is thought to have evangelized Parthia and even into India. He was martyred around 53 A.D.  For more info:  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Thomas

Wednesday, July 6th is the commemoration of Thomas More, lawyer, died 1535. More was loyal to King Henry VIII and defended the Catholic faith against Luther and other reformers when the Reformation began. He condoned the torture and burning of many ‘heretics’. Things turned sour for him when he supported the supremacy of the Pope over King Henry’s break with Rome – we all know what Henry did with people who didn’t agree with him or got in his way… More was charged with treason and beheaded on this day in 1535. Why do we acknowledge someone who actually opposed the forming of the Anglican Church?  Well, More was a brilliant scholar and stood against Henry’s intended break with Rome because the break was politically motivated – Henry didn’t support the Reformation either. More’s final words were “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.” For more info…  https://www.biography.com/people/thomas-more-9414278

In the joy of Christ,

Susan