Sacred Heart Parish in Ladner remains open for small, in-person mass while the Archdiocese of Vancouver continues working with Fraser Health officials following a positive COVID-19 test among one of its parishioners.
Following a tip from a resident in the community, the Optimist reached out via email to the Catholic church on Arthur Drive Tuesday afternoon.
In response, the church said it could not comment further but passed the Optimist’s inquiry to the Archdiocese of Vancouver, which provided an emailed response.
“Sacred Heart Parish has had a parishioner test positive for COVID-19,” said Archdiocese of Vancouver spokesperson Melissa Godbout. “The parish has been in contact with Fraser Health authorities and will be able to provide an update once the authorities have completed their assessment.”
In a follow-up with Godbout on Wednesday, the Optimist asked more specific questions about the case, as well as cleaning and sanitation procedures that have been put in place.
Godbout said per instructions from Fraser Health she could not comment on when the test positive case came to the attention of the church, nor could not comment on if the person who tested positive attended a recent in-person mass.
She did confirm, however, that the church remains open.
“The church remains as it was, open for mass on Sunday as usual, following all its COVID-19 protocols and restrictions, which restricts attendance to fewer than 50 people,” she said.
The church has recently re-started small, in-person masses, but tickets must be reserved in advance and only 50 people in total are allowed inside the church during mass.
The Optimist also observed enhanced signage, social distancing measures and two sanitization stations out front of the church on a visit Tuesday afternoon.
“The church has not been closed and the current cleaning protocols are well above and beyond what is required for safety,” she added.
The guidelines issued by the Archdiocese for its churches can be found online here https://rcav.org/coronavirus/general-guidelines and https://rcav.org/coronavirus/liturgical-guidelines.
The Optimist also reached out to Fraser Health for comment, but the health authority said it would not be releasing any details, citing privacy concerns.
The media spokesperson said this is standard practice with regards to any COVID-19 cases and has been the practice since the pandemic started.
