Kramatorsk, Ukraine, May 5, 2020
Photo: pravlife.org
To date, there are no cases of coronavirus infection among the residents of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Holy Dormition-Svyatogorsk Lavra in the Donetsk Province, where about 350 people gathered for the Paschal service.
“As of today, those who live in the Svyatogorsk Lavra have not applied for medical help in Slavyansk, and laboratory research has not been conducted. There are no patients exclusively from the inhabitants of the Svyatogorsk Lavra as of today,” Alexander Pedenko, the Head of the Department of Strategic Development of Health and Drug Control and the Development of Medical Aid for the Population, said at a press briefing in Kramatorsk yesterday, May 4, reports Ukrinform.
Pedenko’s statement came in response to journalists inquiring about the Pascha “incident.”
The Ukrainian Church’s three Lavras—Kiev Caves, Pochaev, and Svyatogorsk—have been the target of a number of false and misleading reports in the Ukrainian and international media.
An Orthodox Times article from April 22 characterizes the monasteries as “contagion hotspots.” However, in addition to the recent statement from the Donetsk Provincial Administration, the Mayor of Pochaev has also testified that despite wild media reports, there are, in fact, no known cases of coronavirus infection at the Pochaev Lavra. Moreover, while Orthodox Times reports that 140 inhabitants of the Kiev Caves Lavra were infected (and other outlets have reported even higher numbers), the abbot, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavel of Vyshgorod and Chernobyl has reported that 68 members of the brotherhood were sick, 28 of whom tested positive for the virus, 25 of whom were treated in the hospital.
The Donetsk department head also noted that no COVID-19 patients or people suspected of infection have been registered in the city of Svyatogorsk, and no one has contacted any mobile medical teams.
It was earlier reported that a pre-trial investigation is underway concerning the presence of about 350 people at the Paschal service at the Lavra on the night of April 18-19 under Article 325 (violation of sanitary rules and norms for the prevention of infectious diseases and mass poisoning) of the criminal code of Ukraine.
However, according to Pavel Kirilenko, Chairman of the Donetsk Military-Civil Provincial State Administration, there was no mass pilgrimage to the Lavra for Pascha, as most of those present were clergy, refugees who live on the territory of the Lavra, and some residents of Svyatogorsk who always go to church.
In the Donetsk Province, 81 people have fallen ill with COVID-19, of which 2 have died, 13 have recovered, and the rest are still being treated.
