
COVID-19 Anguish Channeled into Survivor Support, Push for Better Pandemic Policies
The Global Accountability Platform (COVID GAP) blog series. March 30, 2023 By Nellie Bristol When Charonda Johnson’s 62-year-old father died from a COVID-19 infection in July, 2020, in addition to intense grief, she felt rage. A US Air Force Iraq war veteran, she was acutely attuned to early warnings about the unfolding pandemic and urged her family to take precautions. But the church her parents attended downplayed the threat, ignored mask mandates, and continued to hold regular services. Although, unlike the bulk of the congregation, her parents wore masks, they continued to attend services and church sponsored conferences, including those she later found out also were attended by some infected with COVID-19. “They were listening to the things that were being said in the media, listening to things they were hearing…