9 nuns die of COVID in one month at upstate New York convent

Officials in upstate New York said nine nuns at a convent have died of causes related to COVID-19  in just over a month. An Albany County spokesperson says in a statement to CBS affiliate WRGB-TV that officials are aware of the deaths among the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in Latham.

In all, 13 nuns have died at the convent since late November, and at least nine of the deaths at the provincial house were COVID related, the station reported. The convent’s website says it is home to 140 nuns.

“In addition to the loss of so many beloved sisters who served others so selflessly for decades, there is the added difficulty of not being able to celebrate their lives as a community due to COVID restrictions,” the Albany Diocese said in a statement to WRGB-TV.

The outbreak comes after similar homes had reported multiple deaths from the coronavirus. Last month, eight nuns living at a retirement home for sisters in suburban Milwaukee died of COVID-19 complications – including four who passed away on the same day.

In July, 13 nuns died at a convent near Detroit and seven died at a center for Maryknoll sisters in New York. At least six nuns also died at Our Lady of the Angels convent in Greenfield, Wisconsin – a home that provides memory care for nuns of the School Sisters of St. Francis and the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

Last month, church authorities said 76 Catholic nuns tested positive for COVID-19 after an outbreak at a Franciscan convent in northwestern Germany, forcing health authorities to put the entire monastery under quarantine.