A Scots church has closed with immediate effect after a young parishioner tested positive for coronavirus.
The young patient attended a large-scale mass at the Parish of Saint Augustine in Coatbridge in recent days.
The Parish Priest Reverend Father Michael Kane was alerted to the diagnosis before the 12pm service on Sunday and made the decision to close the church's doors immediately.
No public masses or services will be celebrated until futher notice while the premises undergoes a deep anti-bacterial clean.
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The parish is popular in the community and is used by the neighbouring primary school for services.
In a statement, Father Kane said: "After consulting Bishop Toal, the Ordinary of the Diocese of Motherwell, it was agreed that our Church should close with immediate effect in order to mitigate any further spread of the virus among our parishioners.
"This decision has been taken with a heavy heart, but with the sole purpose of protecting the health of our parishioners."
He added: "Above all, we unite in prayer that the Lord and His Blessed Mother will guard and watch over all of us in this time of uncertainty.
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"We pray especially for our young parishioner at this difficult time."
Churchgoers will have the chance to observe masses and services on the parish website, where they will also post updates.
Commenting, Fulton MacGregor MSP said: "This is a tough situation but closing the church until it has undergone a deep anti-bacterial clean was the right decision to mitigate further spread of the virus in the parish.
"Unfortunately, this is just one of the ways that life will change in the coming weeks and months and while this will cause some disruption it will help us all to protect ourselves and each other in the long run.
“As the amount of work required to fight COVID-19 increases over the next few days and weeks, it is vital that people continue to follow the health advice such as handwashing and staying at home if you have any mild symptoms.”
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