COVID-19 UPDATE

From the Church's Website:

Currently no news of reassignment or coming home plans for Aydia.

First official case of Covid-19 registered with the CDC on Wednesday (Sao Vicente).

Missionary Work (Updated March 22 at 7 p.m. MDT)

Missionaries will continue to be called to serve and assigned to labor in missions worldwide. Missionary recommendations will continue to be received, and missionary assignments for worldwide service will continue to be made. However, in the coming weeks, based upon world conditions, substantial numbers of missionaries will likely need to be returned to their home nations to continue their service. The term of service for missionaries returning to or serving within the United States will likely be reduced to accommodate the large number of missionaries returning from around the world. (See a letter from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for more information.)

Missionaries in the following locations are in the process of returning to their home nations:

• Mexico (as of March 22)
• Africa (as of March 18)
• Countries within the Micronesia Guam Mission (as of March 18). This applies to missionaries serving on islands other than Guam.
• The Philippines (as of March 17)
• Korea (as of March 5)
• Mongolia (as of February 27)

Young missionaries with health issues and senior missionaries in the following areas are in the process of being released from service:

• 22 missions throughout North America (as of March 21)
• 10 missions in the Europe East Area (as of March 21)
• 22 missions in the Europe Area (as of March 12)

Each missionary who returns home is asked to self-isolate for 14 days following instructions from the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

All missionaries scheduled to begin their training will be trained remotely through technology.

Prospective missionaries who are preparing to serve in certain countries or who come from those countries will either postpone their start date or receive a new temporary assignment. This update applies to the following locations:

• Japan (as of February 25)
• Korea (as of February 25)
• Cambodia (as of February 20)
• Singapore (as of February 20)
• Thailand (as of February 20)

All missionaries have been removed from the China Hong Kong Mission.

Missionaries who remain in regions where COVID-19 is of particular concern are taking precautions to stay healthy, including staying in their apartments as much as possible, avoiding personal interaction with other people and teaching through phone calls or other technology. Mission presidents are communicating with families to let them know of these precautions and keep them updated on local circumstances.