Four soldiers of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, the de facto military of the Vatican City State and bodyguards to Pope Francis, have been quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19. They are the first guardsmen afflicted.
Their colorful unit is more commonly known as the Swiss Guard. Confirmation of the infections among the Guard brings to 19 the total number of people in Vatican City that have contracted the disease since March. Of this number, 12 have recovered.
Vatican City has a resident population of fewer than 1,000 persons. The city itself is governed by the Holy See, which is under the jurisdiction of the Pope.
Due to the infections among the Guard, the Governorate of the Vatican City State last week implemented preventive measures to contain the new infections. It ordered every member of the Guard to wear masks both outdoors and indoors and observe prescribed health measures.
Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office of the Roman Curia, confirmed the infections. He said the guardsmen "have symptoms, and are all in isolation."
Bruni also said "the necessary checks are being carried out among those who may have been in direct contact with them."
"In the meantime, according to instructions issued last week by the Governorate of the Vatican City State, all the guards, whether on duty or not, wear masks, both outdoors and indoors, and observe the prescribed health measures."
The cases of the four guardsmen are in addition to three other positive cases found in recent weeks among residents and citizens of the Vatican. Bruni said all these people had mild symptoms and were isolated at home.
The Swiss Guards have a strength of only 135 men. All members of the Guard are Swiss Catholic single males between the ages of 19 to 30. Only officers are allowed to marry.
The Vatican City's low number of COVID-19 cases ranks it 207th in the world in total cases, based on Worldometer data. There have been no deaths in the city due to COVID-19.
As of Monday, the world has to contend with 38 million total cases and 1.1 million deaths. Italy is now being gripped by a resurgence of the disease.
On Friday, Italy topped 5,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day for the first time since March. The total case count came to 5,724. Italy reported 4,600 cases Monday and 5,500 Sunday.
The country this week will implement new restrictions to curb the unwanted surge in COVID-19 infections. It will ban private parties and limit the numbers of guests at weddings and funerals as part of these new restrictions.
