COVID exposure reported at church hours into reopening

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is warning about an increased COVID-19 exposure risk from a church service this past Sunday, just hours after the province took down all of its public health orders.

According to a video posted to Facebook by Rev. Darrell Desrosiers, the lead pastor at the Lloydminster Gospel Fellowship Church, two people who later ended up testing positive for COVID-19 attended the church’s service on Sunday morning.

“That means that we are all considered to have been in close contact with COVID,” Desrosiers said in the video.

The SHA said that, as per Disease Control Regulations, everyone at the church between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday has to self-isolate until July 25 and get tested for COVID-19 as soon as possible and then again July 21 — that is, unless they’re vaccinated with both doses and it has been more than two weeks since the second dose.

However, those who are fully vaccinated do have to isolate if they start to get symptoms.

Desrosiers said that, because of the warning, the church will hold its service this Sunday online only.