Nursing home for nuns suffers eight deaths from COVID-19 in 10 days
Four of the eight victims died on the same day, with the causes of death being reported as COVID-19 related. Funerals and services for the deceased are being streamed on CCTV for those grieving.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: DECEMBER 19, 2020 18:49A Catholic nun prays in front of a picture of Pope John Paul II in the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem's Old City(photo credit: REUTERS)
A nursing home for nuns in Milwaukee experienced a deadly outbreak of COVID-19, claiming the lives of eight sisters in the process.According to local media and the Associated Press, the Notre Dame of Elm Grove retirement home reported a positive case of coronavirus within one of the 88 sisters living at the facility on Thanksgiving Day - the initial case was then followed by several other positive cases.Four of the eight victims died on the same day, with the causes of death being reported as COVID-19-related. Funerals and services for the deceased are being streamed on CCTV for those grieving.According to AP, the provincial leader for School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province Sister Debra Marie Sciano said that the home has isolated residents who have tested positive, instructing them to stay in their rooms where meals are brought to them. Visitors are also currently not allowed."All CDC guidelines are being followed regarding the care of sisters affected by COVID-19 and to avoid spread of the virus, including wearing masks, social distancing and handwashing," a statement from the retirement home read, according to ABC News.A number of care homes for nuns have experienced outbreaks since the onset of the coronavirus spread. Some 13 died at a convent in Michigan, seven died at a home in New York and six passed away in the Our Lady of the Angels convent in Wisconsin."Given the extreme contagiousness of this virus, it is exceedingly important for congregate settings to practice basic protocols to stop the spread of the disease,” said the spokeswoman for the Waukesha County Department of Health & Human Services Linda Wickstrom, according to AP.The women at the Notre Dame of Elm Grove retirement home who died all works as teachers. A few were missionaries, some musicians, peacekeepers and one was even a published poet."We believe that each of these sisters, and all the sisters, really, they’ve made a difference in this world," Sciano said, according to the AP. "I just think it’s important that people know that, and that they were committed up until the end of their lives."
