Dale G. Renlund, the second Latter-day Saint apostle to be diagnosed with COVID-19, is “feeling well” and continuing his quarantine, a church spokesman said Thursday.
Same goes for his wife, Ruth.
Both are “engaged remotely in their normal activities,” Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said in a one-paragraph news release. “All tests for other church leaders were negative.”
Hawkins did not say which other Latter-day Saint authorities were tested.
The church reported Saturday that, Renlund, a retired cardiologist, and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19 “despite carefully following recommended public health practices.” At that time, Hawkins said the 68-year-old church leader was experiencing “mild symptoms” and that his wife was asymptomatic.
Renlund, named an apostle in October 2015, also made headlines this week when the Utah-based faith released a prerecorded video in which he urged members to wear masks and practice social distancing to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“Wearing a face covering,” he said, “is a sign of Christlike love for our brothers and sisters.”
Renlund is the second apostle known to have contracted COVID-19.
In early October, apostle Gerrit W. Gong and his wife, Susan L. Gong, tested positive. They, too, had mild symptoms and later were cleared. The couple oversaw the groundbreaking for Utah’s Taylorsville Temple on Halloween.
After Gong was diagnosed, the church reported that all three members of the governing First Presidency, including 96-year-old President Russell M. Nelson, and the other members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, were tested — and that those results came back negative.
