At least 76 Catholic nuns have tested positive for COVID-19 since the outbreak at their convent in Germany, church officials said Tuesday.
The sisters of St. Francis of St. George, martyred in Thailand, discovered the first cases of coronavirus last week, prompting local health officials to call the entire monastery under quarantine.
So far the cases have been mild, said Mother Superior of the Convent.
“We are grateful that no one is in the hospital so far,” Sister Maria Cordis Recker told the Associated Press.
Tests of a further 85 nuns have returned negative.
Officials were still awaiting the results of the monastery’s 160 non-clerical staff, including kitchen staff and nurses working in its old age.
The nuns also run several schools, including a boys’ boarding school.
Most Catholic nuns in Germany are elderly women, which puts them at risk for serious illness from the virus.
In Germany as a whole, 13,604 new cases of COVID-19 and 388 deaths were reported on Tuesday, according to the country’s National Center for Disease Control.
Cases of the virus are declining among young people in Germany, but the nation has seen an increase in infections in its older population, the center said.
With post wire
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