ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the elderly and/or people with risk factors most severely.EHPADs have been heavily affected but the situation in cloistered religious communities with an elderly population is unknown.The primary objective was to assess the number of members of religious orders who had COVID-19 in cloistered monasteries during the first confinement in France. Secondary objectives concerned the preventive measures used inside the monastery. METHOD: A questionnaire was sent to cloistered monasteries in three French regions between 25/07 and 25/08/2020 seeking to know: the number of infected/deceased religious order members; the prevention measures taken: in community life, for order members leaving and then returning to the monastery, and for welcoming people. RESULTS: Out of 724 religious order members distributed in 34 monasteries, few have been contaminated: 25 from the same region (i.e. 3.5%). In comparison to 30/07/2020, this rate was equivalent in EHPAD and EMS but it concerned only 2 monasteries. The rate of deaths was lower in the monasteries: 3 of them or 0.4% compared to 1.4%. On the other hand, the preventive measures were well respected by all the religious order members within the community, during outings and returns and during the reception. CONCLUSION: Contrary to what has been observed in the EHPAD, very few religious order members died from COVID-19 during the first confinement. The prevention measures were well respected in the monasteries studied.