Coronavirus & The Amish

(WCSH/NBC News) The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on nearly everyone, including somewhat isolated Amish communities.

Amish residents of Unity, Maine say the pandemic has not disrupted their lives too much, but they are following the state’s orders on social distancing.

“We shut down the school,” says Caleb Stoll, who owns a dairy in Unity.

“We were not to go shopping in non-community stores, and there was quite a bit of effort made for the businesses that stayed opened to limit contact as well,” says Abner Stoll, Caleb’s brother.

The brothers say their biggest change was having church services on Sundays in two different places. “…to try and cut down on contact..we immediately stopped the meal after church and then for three or four Sundays we completely didn’t have any services of any kind,” Caleb says.

They ended their quarantine on May 1, but they are still limiting their contact with others.

“We were very concerned about being respectful, both to the mandate and to our neighbors who were concerned,” Caleb adds.

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