St. Gabriel Church, East Elmhurst
March 26, 2020 By Christian Murray
Church parishioners throughout Queens and Brooklyn are contracting the coronavirus and the Diocese of Brooklyn is releasing the names of the churches where those who have the virus recently attended.
The diocese, which officially ended Catholic church services in Queens and Brooklyn on March 16, is making the announcements to let fellow parishioners know of the potential risk and to alert the public that it is cleaning the locations. It has announced a slew of cases in the past week, reflective of how wide spread the virus has become.
The latest case involves two parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Camel in Astoria who recently contracted the virus.
One individual attended a bible study group meeting on Tuesday, March 10 at the parish center. The other, a child, last attended a religious education class at the parish center on March 11. The church and the parish center are now undergoing a cleaning and sanitization, the diocese said.
Meanwhile, the diocese announced that a priest at St. Gabriel’s Church in East Elmhurst tested positive for the virus and last officiated a church service at 7 p.m. on March 12. In addition, there were six other parishioners who attended St. Gabriel’s church services earlier in the month who have contracted the virus.
The diocese also announced that a couple who had attended Our Lady of the Angelus Church in Rego Park for a service on 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 13 tested positive. Furthermore, an individual who attended a service on Wednesday, March 11 at St. Patrick’s Church in Long Island City has also contracted the virus.
The diocese announced that a member of the choir at St. Kevin’s Church in Flushing tested positive for the virus. The choir member last attended mass at noon on Sunday, March 15 and was in the choir loft during the entire mass.
The diocese announced last week that a Eucharistic minister at Corpus Christi church also came down with the virus.
The churches and other facilities, according to the diocese, have all undergone a deep cleaning and sanitization with the approved disinfectants in accordance to the guidelines issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
