Trump-loving pastor contracts COVID-19 after suggesting that prayer protects against the virus

In a video posted back in March during the early days of coronavirus lockdowns, right-wing pastor Rick Joyner claimed that the United States has one of the lowest coronavirus death rates in the world.

While that claim wasn't true at the time, Joyner nevertheless said it, and he attributed the alleged low death rate to people's prayers. Now, fast forward to 7 months later, Joyner has contracted the virus, according to a post to his Facebook page this Sunday.

"Rick has always been a champion and an overcomer. We are confident Rick will completely recover soon and has stated that he has been feeling better," the post read. "We want our supporters to know that Rick is being watched over by his wife and medical professionals on an hourly basis and is improving. Thank you for your prayers and we are confident that Rick will have a full recovery. We would like to especially ask for all of our friends to please restrain the urge to contact his family at this time, as it distracts them from the focused attention of caring for Rick. We are looking forward to keeping in communication as Rick’s health improves."

The Friendly Atheist's Hemant Mehta wondered how Joyner caught the virus, and he has an idea.

"I’m especially curious how he may have caught it, and if it happened at a Christian event where precautions were ignored," Mehta writes. "No word on that just yet. But his church just held a Sunday service yesterday where people crowded into an indoor space with no social distancing and no masks."