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Patriarch Filaret, a church leader in Ukraine, had some unscientific thoughts about the novel coronavirus. The church leader at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate said coronavirus was God’s punishment against gay marriage.
Well, now he has contracted COVID-19 himself.
The church announced the news in a statement while also revealing that the 91-year-old also had pneumonia.
“We inform you that His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine tested positive for COVID-19 during planned testing,” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate said in a statement, via Newsweek.
“Now His Holiness Patriarch is undergoing treatment at a hospital. The Patriarch’s state of health is satisfactory. We ask for holy prayers for the health and recovery of Patriarch Filaret.”
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 5.72 million confirmed cases and 177,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
