Papakura parish priest Fr Peter Murphy is thankful no cluster had formed around the parishioner who had contracted the coronavirus from a trip to the United States.
“He is fine. He had recovered by the time the news broke,” Fr Murphy said. “He was a Minister of Communion on the Sunday after he returned from the US and the five people who received from the cup after him were required to self-isolate, but they were all fine.”
International bloodstock agent John Curtin and his wife went into voluntary self-isolation after he tested positive for the virus. Both are well, Fr Murphy said.
“John thought he had the flu, and it was only when he found out that his contact back in the US had died that he decided to have himself tested, and by then he was virtually recovered,” Fr Murphy said.
Mr Curtin, who was interviewed by TV One, was one of the earliest patients recorded by the Ministry of Health to have contracted the disease. He was designated as patient number six.
In that interview, he said he got tested after one of the guests at a dinner he attended in New York died from the disease. The guest was John Brennan, a prominent figure in the racing community.
Mr Curtin, on the other hand, was sick for only a day.