Priest with coronavirus handed out communion and shook hands with over 500 parishioners

A priest in the Washington D.C. area has tested positive for the coronavirus and officials are now advising anyone who attended his services to self-quarantine.

CBS affiliate WUSA is reporting that Rev. Timothy Cole attended three services last Sunday at Christ Church Georgetown, which were attended by 550 people. During those services, Cole shook hands with many of those people and handed out communion to them.

In a message posted to Twitter this Monday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recommended that anyone who visited the church between February 24 through March 3 should self-quarantine for 14 days.

“Visitors to Christ Church, Georgetown Episcopal on Feb 24th, and between Feb 28th and Mar 3rd could’ve been exposed to COVID-19, and DC Health recommends that anyone who visited on those dates isolate themselves at home for 14 days from the last time they visited the church,” he tweeted.

In the meantime, Christ Church has suspended all services and all other church-related activities until further notice.

Featured image via Christ Church Georgetown (Facebook) 

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.