A source in the Vatican said today, Tuesday, that two cardinals in the Vatican, one of whom spends most of his time helping the homeless in Rome, have tested positive for the Coronavirus.

Cardinal Konrad Krajowski, 57, a Polish man who runs Pope Francis' charities, has been transferred for treatment from the onset of pneumonia.

The source said that the 78-year-old Italian Cardinal Giuseppe Bertlo, the governor of Vatican City, also tested positive and is believed to be in self-isolation at his home in the Vatican.

It was not immediately clear whether one or both attended an event on Monday in which members of the Vatican's central administration exchanged Christmas greetings with the pope, and there was no official confirmation from the Vatican of the cardinals' test results.

During the first wave of the epidemic last spring, more than a dozen members of the Swiss Guard, in addition to a person living in the same guesthouse where the Pope lived, tested positive.

Italy, the first western country to be infected with the virus, has witnessed 69,214 deaths due to the Corona virus since its appearance in February, which is the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world, and about 1.96 million infections have been recorded so far.

Andrea Arcangley, head of the Vatican health services, said earlier this month that the Vatican will start vaccinating residents and employees early in the new year.

Source: Reuters

By:Nadeemy Haded