A Trussville church has temporarily closed its facilities including a daycare center because the pastor and his family tested positive for coronavirus.
The Rev. Stephen Strange, pastor of Trussville First United Methodist Church, announced in a Facebook video on Wednesday that he, his wife, Laura, and three other family members tested positive for COVID-19.
The church sent out an announcement on Monday, July 6, that the church and its daycare facilities would be closed down for two weeks.
Strange said he, his wife and children underwent testing on Sunday, July 5, but did not get the test results back until Wednesday.
“All five of us who were tested were positive,” he said.
The church’s Kids First Day Care had reopened in May and began full-time hours May 25.
“My kids work in day school,” Strange said. “We had to shut everything down because we had been all over the place.”
Strange described his symptoms including body aches, headaches, high temperature, lack of energy and lack of appetite. “I’m on day seven of it,” he said Wednesday.
“I would rather me get it than somebody else,” he said. “I can tell you it’s miserable.”
It’s like having “flu on steroids,” Strange said.
“Man, it makes you sick,” he said. “Your body is just so weak.”
Strange said he believes his children may have been exposed through carpooling or in group activities with youth. “A guy who played football and one of the wrestlers tested positive,” Strange said.
Danette Clifton, director of communications for the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church, said she did not know of any other cases of COVID-19 among pastors in the region.
The Rev. Steve Strange, pastor of Trussville First United Methodist Church, announced this week that he and his family tested positive for coronavirus.