CHARLOTTE, N.C. — All United House of Prayer for All People buildings in Mecklenburg County were ordered closed Saturday over "grave concerns" about the ongoing spread of COVID-19 linked to the church.
Health Director Gibbie Harris said she ordered the buildings closed beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday after 121 confirmed cases of the virus and at least three deaths were linked to the church. A fourth death is under investigation, Harris said at a morning news conference.
The "abatement of an imminent hazard" order announced Saturday will remain in effect until midnight Nov. 5. It appears to be the first time the county has used such an order from the health director to force compliance during the coronavirus pandemic.
Harris said church officials have not cooperated with the county in taking the measures that health officials say are needed to help control the spread of the virus.
Up to 1,000 people attended the events, despite health officials "strongly urging" businesses and places of worship not to hold such large gatherings, according to the county order.
The church "failed or refused" to ensure social distancing and other COVID-19 preventive measures, it said.
Church leaders won't provide a list of attendees so health officials can conduct contact tracing and notify people that they may have been exposed, Harris said. Cases may have spread to five states, according to the order, which doesn't name the states.
"I am not taking this action lightly," Harris said of her order, only the third such action she's taken in her more than 30 years in public health.
"We have taken this action out of an abundance of caution to prevent the COVID-19 virus from further spreading in our community," she said in a statement. "This type of order is rare, but sometimes necessary. It prevents the church from opening or allowing any further gathering, making sure we stop this outbreak from going any further."
Harris said her decision came a day before the church was scheduled to kick off a revival that would have lasted until Oct. 31. No one answered an Observer phone call to the church Saturday.
On Friday, health officials said coronavirus cases connected to the United House of Prayer for All People were found beyond Mecklenburg County — in two people with COVID-19 in Iredell County. A case also was confirmed in Cabarrus County, Harris said Saturday.
Besides three previously reported deaths, county health officials said Friday they were investigating another death possibly connected to church events in early October.
The growing case count represents the largest outbreak in the Charlotte area connected to a gathering or location.
Fourteen people who reside at a senior living facility near the church have confirmed cases linked to the events, as well as two at another such facility, Harris said.
The county has used civilian "ambassadors" to visit businesses around Charlotte and check for social distancing and mask use in order to gain voluntary compliance, The Observer has previously reported. The city of Charlotte has also used 311 to accept complaints about places or gatherings where rules were broken, and police have issued some citations to businesses that opened or served alcohol despite state bans.
The county first warned of the cluster Oct. 17, nearly a week after the church on Beatties Ford Road hosted the convocation events. At the time, Mecklenburg officials said nine confirmed cases of the coronavirus had been linked to the church's events. That number has quickly grown.
Deputy Health Director Raynard Washington told The Observer on Friday that health officials had asked the church not to host any events for at least 14 days at any of its locations. The county also continued to encourage church members to get tested for COVID-19, he said.
Asked whether the church was cooperative, Washington replied: "We communicate on a daily basis."
State mass-gathering bans don't apply to churches, but county officials were unclear Friday about whether they were considering any other type of enforcement action.
North Carolina set another record of newly-reported COVID-19 cases Friday, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
The state reported 2,716 cases across the state, bringing the total since March to 255,708 statewide, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reported.
