Corona current
At least 76 nuns infected with the coronavirus
© Radoslaw Czajkowski / Shutterstock
A corona outbreak was reported in a monastery in Thuine in Emsland. At least 76 sisters are said to have been infected with the corona virus there – many test results are still pending.
The coronavirus continues to spread in Germany – and worldwide. Corona cases have recently been reported repeatedly, especially in larger facilities such as schools and nursing homes. Now there is said to have been a mass outbreak in a monastery.
Corona outbreak in the monastery affects risk group
As the "NDR" reports, several nuns are said to have been infected with the corona virus in the Franciscan convent in Thuine in Emsland. So far, 76 of the 170 residents have tested positive. The results of 160 other employees are still pending – because the monastery is connected to a nursing home as well as two schools and a boarding school.
So it is currently unclear how far the coronavirus has already spread in the religious community. Corona cases are said to have occurred in one of the associated schools before the outbreak in the monastery. One of the nuns had taught there. The health department should still be working on tracking the entire chain of infection.
The nuns who tested positive are said to have already been isolated. They would live together in a separate house. Since many of the infected belong to the corona risk group, caution is required. So far, however, the course of Covid-19 is said to have been mild – none of the nurses currently needs to be treated in hospital.
The outbreak in the monastery shows once again how quickly the coronavirus can spread – and how difficult it is currently to understand the chains of infection in order to interrupt them as quickly as possible. For this reason, virologists like Christian Drosten currently recommend a so-called contact diary to all people. Each meeting and its conditions (face mask, taken outdoors or indoors) should be noted in this.