- Six nuns at a Port Shepstone convent have died of Covid-19.
- They died within one week.
- Another 15 nuns at the Daughters of Saint Francis are critically ill.
Six nuns in Port Shepstone have died of Covid-19, while another 15 are critically ill.
The nuns are all based at the Daughters of Saint Francis in Port Shepstone, in the Mariannhill Diocese, and the deaths all took place within a week, the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life South Africa (LCCLSA) announced in a statement this week.
Sisters Elmara Skhakhane; Leonissa Nzimande, 78; Colleta Msomi, 78; Anastasia Mthetwa, 86; Amara Madlala, 75; Edmunda Nkomo, 80; and Helen Cele, 88, died as a result of Covid-19.
"At a time and season of Advent hope, this certainly comes as a deep wound to the Church, the congregation and the conference at large. This is a very painful reminder that the scourge of Covid-19 is yet to lessen its devastation in communities and society at large," LCCLSA president Nkhensani Shibambu said.
"As the Leadership Conference of Consecrated Life we are deeply hurt by the loss of lives under this spell of Covid-19," she said.
Shibambu urged all religious congregations and communities to be "extra vigilant and cautious in light of the deadly and subtle second wave".
"None of us are immune to this pandemic. In the absence of a vaccine, we remain our own best defence against the virus and the least we can do is to continue adhering to the safety protocols of Covid-19 prevention and containment, especially as most people and communities gather for the celebration of the festive season and beyond," Shibambu said.
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