Local Monastery Takes Extra Precautions

Since the pandemic began, St. Scholastica's monastery has been taking some extra precautions to prevent an outbreak, especially with many of the sisters being elderly. 

DULUTH, Minn. – Since the pandemic began, St. Scholastica’s monastery has been taking some extra precautions to prevent an outbreak, especially with many of the sisters being elderly.

The monastery does have a COVID-19 task force that monitors the situation while having sanitization stations throughout the building. The sisters have also ramped things up in their food service line where they are served their food rather than picking up individual items.

“We’ve done a lot of different measures I should say,” said Sister Beverly Raway, the prioress at the monastery. “We are very thorough on figuring out how to limit our exposure to anything possible. ”

The 44 sisters at the monastery were tested for COVID-19 last Tuesday, and none have tested positive for the virus. The majority of the sisters at the monastery are in what is considered to be the vulnerable age range and some even have conditions that make them even more vulnerable to the disease.

“We’re not young people here,” said Raway. “Most of us are over 65 and of age and some of have underlying medical conditions.”

It should be noted the sisters are wearing masks during chapel and everywhere else except in their private rooms and offices.