'Priests who tested positive responding well to treatment'

The clarification by the Archdiocese of Bombay on Twitter

In the light of a message doing the rounds on social media, claiming three priests, all of whom reside in and work out of the Archbishop's House - were in critical condition having tested positive for COVID-19, at Holy Family Hospital, the Archdiocese of Bombay issued a clarification on Friday stating that they were responding well to treatment and were "expected back" soon.

"All three are in hospital, responding well to treatment, and we expect them back soon," read the announcement on the official Archdiocese of Bombay's official Twitter handle. The clarification, undersigned by Fr Neil dos Santos, Chancellor for the Archdiocese of Bombay, further read, "The alarm caused is totally unfounded. The Archbishop's House is also not under lockdown. We are functioning with restricted staff due to the pandemic. We are grateful for the prayers for the health of our priests."

Also Read: COVID-19 in Mumbai: 15 days of October saw as many cases as whole of August

Speaking to mid-day over the phone on Sunday, Fr Nigel Barrett, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Bombay, said the three priests from the Archbishop's House had indeed tested positive for the coronavirus and were currently receiving treatment at Holy Family Hospital.

However, neither of them was critical, as claimed in the social media messages doing the rounds. He said, "They are not on ventilators and fighting for their lives, as the social media message(s) claim; they are doing fine now and we expect them to be discharged shortly."

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