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On November 26, as coronavirus cases surged again nationwide, the Supreme Court barred New York from enforcing certain limits on attendance at churches and synagogues in areas designated as hard hit by the virus.

The justices split 5–4, with new, conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett in the majority. The court’s three liberal justices joined Chief Justice John Roberts in dissent.        

Patriarch Irinej, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, died of COVID-19 on November 20 at the age of 90. He contracted the virus three weeks earlier while officiating the large, public funeral of a senior bishop who had died of COVID-19.

According to reports, mourners at the bishop’s funeral did not wear masks or maintain social distancing. Many of them also kissed his body, which was in an open casket. Local health officials had flagged the funeral as a health risk.