Attending church a lesson in not letting your guard down: elderly couple sick with COVID-19

Last month when restrictions loosened and churches were allowed to hold services with capacity capped at 10 per cent, an elderly couple in Sarto, Man., jumped at the opportunity to worship again.

"We didn't go to church for a whole year," said a woman, 82, whom CBC has agreed not to name to protect her and her husband's private health information.

"It was exciting because I like to go to church."

She said she and her husband wore masks while attending an hour-and-a-half service with 19 other people on Feb. 21 at St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Sarto, a tiny community in the RM of Hanover southwest of Steinbach.

Two days later her husband, 81, who she said took communion, started to get sick with flu-like symptoms and a cough.

She says she didn't take communion but got sick a week after the service with the same symptoms and they both tested positive for the virus.

'The worst flu'

"I just felt like I [was] really having a bad cold and a bad flu and runny nose and fatigue, tired all the time," she said. "You just lay down, you fall asleep, you're sleeping all the time. You're just tired all the time," she said.

"It felt like the worst flu. It was hanging on there. I wasn't that weak with other flus but this one, I was really weak with it."

The province announced Friday it had declared an outbreak at the church, which is now connected with at least 10 cases and "many more" contacts. It is also connected with an exposure at St. Andrew's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg on March 4.

"This isn't a reflection on the hard work of the people who are, you know, trying to make their patrons safe. It's a reflection on a highly communicable virus and so we know where people gather, especially for prolonged times, we're going to see outbreaks in clusters," said Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's chief provincial public health officer.

The doctor called the outbreak, which has sent at least two people to hospital, "significant."

Must wait 3 months for vaccine

The woman says public health has told her and her husband to not get the COVID-19 vaccine they're now eligible for until June because the virus has compromised their immune systems.

Both the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommend someone who had the virus wait three months before being immunized as supplies are low and reinfections reported to date within three months are rare.

"It's kind of scary. It's scary 'cause you know you're so sick and you hear of so many people dying and being in the hospital and it's not a fun thing."

She says before attending church she didn't know a single person sick with the virus, and says their experience has made them think twice about leaving their home. And they won't go back to church anytime soon.

"Maybe a year from now maybe I'll think different," she said, adding it's safer to "stay away from crowds, don't go shopping if you don't need to."

"I was surprised that we got it, eh! You never think it's going to be you but it happened."

Masks no longer required inside churches

Starting Saturday, people attending a church service in Manitoba will no longer be required to wear a mask if they are:

• Seated with others from their home.
• Distanced from other groups.
• Not singing.