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SALT LAKE CITY — The novel coronavirus has again prompted The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to take action for its members across the world and country.
In response to COVID-19, church leaders announced on Friday that missionaries in South Korea will be reassigned to temporary missions in their respective home countries.
Missionaries who are leaving have already self-isolated themselves and avoided contact with others over the past few weeks, church officials said in a statement.
Additionally, anyone returning home will self-isolate for 2 weeks and follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the World Health Organization.
Anyone who was assigned to serve in South Korea will either be temporarily reassigned or have their start-dates postponed, church officials said.
The church also announced the Seattle Washington Temple is now closed, after multiple cases of the disease were reported in the state, including some fatalities.
Additionally, no stake conferences, priesthood leadership councils in the area will be held in order to comply with the governor’s request that no large gatherings be held.
Smaller gatherings, such as sacrament meeting, will continue in some Seattle areas and members should contact local priesthood leaders for details on those meetings.
Seattle’s temple closure joins a growing list of temple’s closing around the world: the Fukuoka Japan Temple, Rome Italy Temple, Seoul Korea Temple, Sapporo Japan Temple and Taipei Taiwan Temple have all closed due to recommendations from local health agencies.
The Hong Kong China Temple and Tokyo Japan Temple were previously closed to renovations.
In addition to Seattle, member gatherings, including Sunday worship services, have also been limited in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Mongolia.
Friday’s announcements are the latest in a string of changes the church has made in response to novel coronavirus.
In February, more than 100 missionaries were transferred from Hong Kong in response to the disease.
The church also discouraged international travel to the U.S. for the biannual general conference, which is scheduled to begin April 4.
So far in Utah, there have been no confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to the governor’s office.
However, a Utah man who contracted the disease overseas and has since returned to Utah is isolated in his St. George home until he tests negative for the virus.
At a Friday news conference, Dr. Angela Dunn, state epidemiologist, stressed that his case poses no risk to the public.
- To help mitigate infectious transmission of COVID-19, health care officials advise anyone who thinks they might have the virus to first call their doctor before going to a hospital
- Wash hands thoroughly and often
- Stay home if you’re feeling sick
- Don’t touch your face
- Cough or sneeze in your elbow or a tissue
- You could be at risk of having COVID-19 if you’ve recently traveled to mainland China, South Korea or, to a lesser extent, Japan, Italy and Iran
- Infected patients typically have a fever, cough and shortness of breath
