Two Vatican Cardinals Dear to the Pope Test Positive with COVID-19

Pope Francis Celebrates Easter Holy Mass

(Photo : Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - APRIL 12: Italian Carabinieri and Italian Police carry a cross in the St. Peter's square while Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Mass inside the empty St. Peter's Basilica during the Coronavirus emergency, on April 12, 2020 in Vatican City, Vatican. This year Pope Francis celebrated an extraordinary an Easter Mass inside the St. Peter's Basilica due to the emergence of the coronavirus (covid-19). There have been well over 150,000 reported COVID-19 cases in Italy and more than 19,000 related deaths, but the officials are confident the peak of new cases has passed.

After the pope who has been considered at-risk, the Vatican has been alarmed as two cardinals close to the pope have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni on Tuesday, Channel News Asia reports.

The 57-year-old Polish Cardinal, Konrad Krajewski, who runs the charities of Pope Francis has tested positive with COVID-19 has been confirmed on Tuesday.

In addition, the Italian Cardinal and Governor of Vatican City Giuseppe Bertello has also tested positive with coronavirus according to a source in the Vatican.

Bertello is currently believed that is self-isolating at his home in the Vatican.

Boasting the nickname of pope's Robin Hood for his work in helping the poor and the homeless, Krajewski, has exhibited symptoms of pneumonia and is currently under observation and treated in a hospital in Rome.

Whether a single man or either of them attended the event on Monday which saw the central administration of the Vatican and the 84-year-old Pope Francis, exchanging Christmas greetings, the fact remains unknown to the public.

Earlier in December, the head of the health services of the Vatican, Andrea Arcangeli shared that the Vatican Cty intends to inoculate residents and staffers as early as possible next year.

The Argentinian pope has been considered a high-risk possible patient not only because of his age but also due to the medical history wherein in his young age, he had a part of one of his lungs removed, following pleurisy.

Bertello and Krajewski are not the first individuals close to the pope to have contracted the disease, which caused not less than 69,000 deaths in Italy, WION reported.

According to the Daily News, the head of the missionary arm of the Vatican, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle also tested positive with coronavirus in September, wherein afterward, he got into self-isolation and is now believed to be doing fine.

When coronavirus first swept through Europe, Italy was one of the first Western nations to experience its wrath, wherein during the spring of the year, more than a dozen of Swiss Guards contracted the virus, as did an individual living in the guest house where the pope lives.

Recently, the Pope has often been criticized for his refusal on wearing masks in public and during, but because of the latest results, his habits have now changed drastically, especially with the current of the second wave of virus that will take over the world if not prevented.

On the other, despite the current condition of the state, the Pope has promised that the jobs of the Vatican employees will be retained and they will still be paid their salaries on time regardless of the economic condition.

Moreover, the Pope also extended his Christmas wishes to the employees and their families.

The Pope also emphasized to the employees that they are the ones who count the most therefore no one among them should lose their jobs or even suffer the brutal economic consequences of this pandemic.