BOISE, Idaho — During the course of Coronavirus, many churches decided to take their services online.
The Cathedral of the Rockies has not held an Easter service in person since 2019. According to Executive Pastor Todd Mills, the church was full of cheer all day.
“People are craving community, I think that's something that's been missing for a while now and it's just that lost sense that I think everybody has just that feeling that they are at a missed step because something has just been missing for so long,” Mills said.
Today, he said the sense of community was restored. However, he did say that there was a feeling of heightened awareness when it came to the pandemic and that around 20% of guests wore masks.
“It’s still a little different, I think it felt different for a lot of people maybe being around that many people for the first time in a long time,” Mills said.
The gatherings come at a time when the CEO of Primary Health Medical Group, Dr. David Peterman says COVID positivity rates for his clinics have gone up.
“Approximately two weeks ago we saw our positivity rate double which was from two percent to four percent,” Peterman said.
Even considering, he said positivity rates are at controllable levels.
“Control of the pandemic is based on a positivity rate that is less than five percent so even though we were watching it and concerned, it is still in what we would call controllable levels,” Peterman said.
According to Peterman, around 90% of new cases are the B.A.2 variant. He said while the variant appears to be more contagious than any others, it does not appear to result in more severe symptoms.
“We have seen that coronavirus acts in different and strange ways, so I think that all of us have some concerns, but our level of concern is not what it was before,” Peterman said.
Many Idahoans were happy to be able to welcome back some normalcy in their Easter celebrations.
“I think our other faith communities are feeling the same thing this year and I also think there's a sense of unification,” Mills said. “Even though we have different rituals and different traditions, at the heart of everything is God's call for love and peace.”
Mills said the church stays on top of COVID data and takes advice from medical experts often.
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: