Thirteen nuns have died from COVID-19 complications at a convent in Livonia.
In all, the coronavirus infected 30 nuns at the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Felix of Cantalice, or Felician Sisters, according to the nonprofit Global Sisters Report, a project of the National Catholic Reporter Publishing company.
Among those who died were teachers, an organist, a nurse, an author, and a secretary in the Vatican Secretariat of State. All but one of the nuns died between April 10 and May 10. The 13th died on June 27.
They ranged in age from 69 to 99, underscoring the deadly impact of the coronavirus on elderly populations.
"We couldn't contain the grief and the sorrow and the emotional impact," Sr. Noel Marie Gabriel, director of clinical health services for the Felician Sisters of North America, says. "We went through the motions of doing what we had to do, but that month was like a whole different way of life. That was our most tragic time. It was a month of tragedy and sorrow and mourning and grieving."
At least 19 nuns at other convents across the U.S. have died, according to the Global Sisters Report.
The coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 6,100 Michigan residents. Nearly 75,000 residents have confirmed infections.
The coronavirus is on the rise in Michigan, which reported an average of 514 new cases a day so far this month. In June, the state averaged 216 new daily cases.
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