JAKARTA (UCAN): Three priests from the Diocese of Purwokerto, in Central Java, Indonesia, and two diocesan employees are self-isolating after receiving positive Covid-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) test results, according to a Church official.
Father Fransiskus Xaverius Bagyo Purwosantosa, the diocese’s secretary-general, said on August 3 that the five tested positive after local authorities in Banyumas district conducted mass polymerase chain reaction tests on July 21.
Those tested included priests and employees of the diocese as well as of Christ the King Cathedral Church and St. Joseph Church in the district capital of Purwokerto.
“Three priests and two diocesan employees tested positive for Covid-19 and were taken to a local hospital,” Father Purwosantosa explained without giving their names.
According to him, they underwent a second test at the hospital.
“One of them told me that the results of his second test were negative. Yet like the others, he stills need to self-isolate for 14 days in accordance with protocols,” he said.
Christ the King Cathedral Church resumed public Sunday Masses on August 2 but St. Joseph Church has remained closed.
As of August 2, Indonesia had recorded 111,000 Covid-19 cases and 5,236 deaths.
