Covid-19 & The Amish Community

[JimGinPA]

I lived in Pennsylvania nearly 35 years, over 25 in Lancaster County. I was acquainted with quite a few Amish people while I was there & I'm pretty familiar with their lifestyle.

So, a friend of mine back in PA posted a reply to some RWer on FB last night who said the Amish don't wear masks & they aren't getting sick. My friend said "You don't know what you're talking about, they're dropping like flies!"

I tried to look it up but I couldn't find a whole lot of information one way or the other. I found a lot of seemingly conflicting information though. I saw several reports that said they wouldn't wear masks (they believe it's unhealthy) & then I found articles that said Amish women had sewn 1000's of masks & other PPE to donate to hospital workers & first responders. I also found articles that said masks were required at many of their businesses.

I found reports that they were refusing covid testing & weren't going to be vaccinated. And then there was an article that an elder from one group was working with Lancaster General to outreach information to the community.

I saw articles that said they refused to accept the stimulus checks & they were sending them back to the IRS. But then I saw articles that said many had received $1000's in business relief loans.

There were reports that some of their Sunday prayer meetings had become super spreader events but then I also saw that some were holding their prayer meetings outside in parking lots & they stayed in their buggies like a drive-in.

I wasn't able to find any kind of numbers though & the reporting about them over the last year is pretty sparse really.

If anyone here has any information or feels like digging into it further I would really appreciate it.

[murielm99]

1. Maybe it depends on the community.

Each group may be deciding on a different course of action.

[Maxheader]

3. Hopefully they all put lives...

Above refusing to put a little cotton around their nose and mouth...

[DeSmet]

2. Central Pa seems to be following guidelines

[John Ludi]

4. I live in a heavily Amish

part of SW Wisconsin and I shop at their stores and see them everywhere...no masks as far as I can tell...I've not seen ANY Amish here wearing any. I heard that Covid swept through at least one of their local communities, but not sure if there were fatalities.

[XCSki]

5. SC PA

In South Central PA, I rarely see Amish or Menonite wearing masks in public places. It's discouraging, but we also have a wealth of plain people who also refuse to wear masks in Aldi and other public places, presumably. It's not surprising as we still have lots of yards boasting trump signs as well.

[pazzyanne]

6. Found this article on the Amish and Covid-19:

https://www.cantonrep.com/story/news/2021/01/10/why-dont-amish-want-wear-masks/6406390002/

[whathehell]

9. Did you notice how the writer

attributes their reluctance to wear masks to religious and cultural reasons and "a healthy skepticism of government"?
Yes, that's the writer editorializing on the "health" of their skepticism.

[JimGinPA]

19. Thanks, That Was Pretty Informative And More In Depth Than Most Of What I Found

A different part of the country but absolutely the same issues.

[iamateacher]

7. We go to Lancaster County frequently because of a campground there.

The local farm stores run by Old Order Mennonites have staff wearing masks. We had strict mask rules in Pa. early on and most local businesses follow the guidelines. We do often see large gatherings outside where no one is wearing a mask.
My son who worked in Ephrata said the Amish there felt that Covid had swept through their community early in February 2020.
I think this article explains that the Amish often decline testing.
[link:https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/lancaster-covid-coronavirus-amish-spread-positive-test-pennsylvania-20200627.html|

[murielm99]

23. We have Old Order Mennonites

in a community near me. I am in Northern Illinois.

They have made some accommodations to twenty-first century life. Some of the Mennonite women work in the community as teacher's aides and nurses. They don't come to town in a horse and buggy any more. They drive plain, light blue vans. The women drive, too.

If they are working in the community, I am sure they are wearing masks. Also, not all Old Order Mennonites are doing the same thing. That is why I thought decisions might be made by each community.

[iamateacher]

25. The Old Order Mennonites here

Travel in buggys. Very similar to Amish, except for they are clean shaven, can use bikes, have cool hats, and use some machinery. Again, you are correct, every church sets their own rules.
And every church is rooted in a connected famly setting.

[whathehell]

12. Huh?

The responses to the OP answer that question...Are you sure you're on the right thread?

[Hekate]

16. We care about a wide variety of people here, as shown by the posts in this thread

[Cirque du So-What]

20. You obviously cared enough to click on this thread

Is this your Sunday morning mission - finding threads discussing things you don’t personally care about and asking, ‘who the hell cares’? Nice try at stifling discussion. Actually, not nice at all.

[Hekate]

14. You "wouldn't be surprised if"... try to dial back the bigotry on something you have no evidence for

[safeinOhio]

17. Just a suggestion for you

take a college introductory class in Cultural Anthropology. There are lots of things we could pin on the Amish and lots of stuff they do that would make you look very bad.

When I lived in Ohio an Amish school was attacked by a lone gunman that kill 5 or 6 young Amish girls. He in turn died and the only people that went to his funeral were the families of those Amish girls. They are very New Testament and practice forgiveness.

[GusBob]

11. Here we have Hutterites

A similar culture. They live in colonies similar to communes so they are grouped together as a society for meals church prayers etc, but they are isolated out in rural areas. But still, crowded together at risk for COVID

I have wondered about how they were handling COVID. I had noticed that you see fewer of them in town and of those you see some are wearing masks

I have a Hutterite fella that I trade whisky for their homemade wine. They are of German heritage and they do like their beer and other spirits. I'm going to ask him about it next time we meet up

This Fall I was hunting up on one of the colonies and although they like English visitors I didn't stop in for fear of carrying in the virus

[LymphocyteLover]

13. We have Amish come to the children's hospital very near my work

I saw a family recently where the mom and one of the kids was wearing masks, but the dad wasn't. FWIW.

[Historic NY]

15. One would think that they would embrace this

after the study why so many young people were dying


[link:https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/cardiovascular-diseases/news/genetic-testing-reveals-cause-of-mysterious-deaths-in-amish-children/mac-20502182|]

[safeinOhio]

18. Thanks for the article.

Religions must adapt to the environment or face extinction.

[Cirque du So-What]

21. As of approximately three months ago

patrons at Amish food stores in my area were stubbornly neglecting to wear masks, despite a statewide mandate to wear them in such establishments. I stopped going for that reason.

In a similar vein, I have an acquaintance who has a side gig driving Amish around in her car (AKA ‘Yoder toter’). She meets with resistance from some patrons but insists on masks being worn in her vehicle.

[gibraltar72]

22. I live in an area with large Amish community.

I do see them wearing masks at grocery stores. That being said each community seems to have its' own rules on just about everything.

[AwakeAtLast]

24. I'm in Southern Illinois

The local Amish store north of me had one of the first outbreaks last summer. We had been there two weeks before it happened, and they were wearing masks.