San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan under lockdown after death of priest who had COVID-19

San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City has been placed under temporary lockdown after a guest priest died on Saturday morning.

Fr. Manuel Jadraque Jr (“Fr. Mawe”) of the Mission Society of the Philippines later tested positive for COVID-19 during post-mortem swab testing, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines president-elect and Diocese of Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said.

“We regret to inform you that the Caloocan City Government’s Covid Command Center has ordered the temporary lockdown of the San Roque Cathedral starting tomorrow, Sunday, July 25, which is supposed to be our celebration of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly People,” he wrote.

David said two masses on Sunday will be celebrated “sine populo” (without a congregation). These are the 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Masses, and both will be live streamed online via the Facebook page of the Diocese of Kalookan.

He said Fr. Mawe boarded a tricycle in Monumento to get to the cathedral on Saturday morning. However, upon arrival, “he was found unresponsive and very pale inside the tricycle.”

Fr. Mawe was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

The bishop said Fr. Mawe, 58, was fully vaccinated and thought to be “very healthy.”

David said they asked the city government to have the specimen sample taken from the late priest be subjected to genome testing to determine what coronavirus variant infected him. —KG, GMA News