US priest tests positive for coronavirus after shaking hands with over 500 worshippers

Timothy Cole, rector of Christ Church, Washington DC, US, tested positive for coronavirus after shaking hands with over 500 worshippers during holy communion.

The priest was diagnosed with the virus on Saturday and has been confirmed as the city’s first coronavirus patient.

Health officials said hundreds of people had interactions with the priests.

The officials have asked all worshippers who visited the church in Georgetown either on February 24 or February 28 to self-quarantine themselves for two weeks.

Cole, who has been a rector of the church since 2016, wrote an email to members to notify them of his condition.

“First, I want to assure you that I will be OK. I am receiving excellent care and am in good spirits under the circumstances,” he said.

“I will remain quarantined for the next 14 days as will the rest of my family.”

The church, which was founded in 1817, has cancelled all services until further notice.

The mayor’s office had said the second confirmed coronavirus patient is a Nigerian who had recently traveled to DC and being treated at a Maryland hospital.

The US confirmed its first case of person-to-person transmission of the virus on January 30.