A coronavirus hotspot has emerged at the Monastery Saint John the New in the eastern Romanian city of Suceava, where the orthodox Archbishop of Suceava and Rădăuţi, Calinic Botoşăneanul, was enthroned 10 days ago.
As ziare.com reported, based on a local news report, five monks from the monastery tested positive for coronavirus and were all taken to the Suceava County hospital. Two of them were diagnosed with the infection on Wednesday, while the other three were tested last week. The Suceava department of the National Health Service agency thus started an epidemiological investigation. The remaining 10 monks at the monastery tested negative for the virus, but they have isolated themselves for two weeks in any event. The interiors of the monastery were disinfected, and the church will be closed for a while.
The predecessor of the newly enthroned Archbishop, his Holiness Father Pimen, died in May after being diagnosed with coronavirus.
The monastery (Mănăstirea Sfântul Ioan cel Nou) was built between 1514 and 1522. The monastery church is consecrated to Saint George and Saint John the New, a 14th-century Romanian saint. It is one of the eight churches in this eastern region of Romania, which altogether were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
As of Tuesday, 57,895 people had been diagnosed with coronavirus in Romania since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. On Thursday, the Strategic Communication Group (GCS) reported a daily rise of 1,345 in cases. The county of Suceava leads the list with a total of 4,656 infections recorded so far and a rate of 7.33 cases per 1,000 inhabitants.
Title image: His Holiness Father Calinic was enthroned on July 26, a few days before the monks were diagnosed with coronavirus.
Source: arhiepiscopiasucevei.ro
