Fort Worth rector ends quarantine after 2 negative COVID-19 tests, he announces
A Fort Worth rector might be the first known case of someone recovering from the COVID-19 virus in Tarrant County.
The Rev. Dr. Robert Pace, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church of Fort Worth, has had two negative tests for the coronavirus. The Tarrant County Public Health Department has signed an order releasing him from isolation and quarantine, according to Katie Sherrod, a spokeswoman for the church.
Tarrant County Public Health Department confirmed on Friday that two patients in the county have recovered from the virus — meaning they tested positive and then later tested negative. On Friday, the county announced that 29 people had tested positive for the virus.
Pace’s wife, the Rev. Dr. Jill Walters, who previously tested negative for the coronavirus, will still have to be quarantined for 14 days, he wrote to church members.
“Jill and I want to express our heart-felt gratitude to all the people who have been praying for us,” Pace wrote. “We are so humbled and grateful to the wonderful medical professionals in this community who cared for me through this illness.”
Pace was one of at least six people who tested positive for the coronavirus after attending The Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes conference from Feb. 19 to Feb. 22 in Louisville. Trinity Episcopal Church canceled services and closed its building in response.
Pace had said in a previous message on the church website he was feeling improvement every day. But, in the newer message posted on the website on Friday, he described the impacts of COVID-19 and said he is “still weak.”
“One of the difficult things about this Coronavirus is the pneumonia and the shortness of breath,” he wrote in the message. “Although I am much better, it’s still a process.”
There were more than 246,000 cases of coronavirus across the globe as of Friday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 10,000 people have died and more than 86,000 people have recovered.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 8:56 AM.