March 24, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced Tuesday afternoon that more missionaries are returning to their home nations due to COVID-19 concerns.
“This applies to all areas except Europe and Europe East and the following countries: Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan,” said a news release from the LDS Church.
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.
The new release contains the following information:
Elders serving in the U.S. and Canada | Released at 21 months |
Missionaries returning home for health reasons (all missions) | Released and 14-day self-isolation |
Elders returning to the U.S. and Canada who have fewer than 180 days (six months) remaining | Released and 14-day self-isolation |
Elders returning to the U.S. and Canada who have more than 180 days (six months) remaining | Remain a missionary, 14-day self-isolation, and then temporarily reassigned |
Sisters returning to the U.S. and Canada who have fewer than 90 days (three months) remaining | Released and 14-day self-isolation |
Sisters returning to the U.S. and Canada who have more than 90 days (three months) remaining | Remain a missionary, 14-day self-isolation, and then temporarily reassigned |
Missionaries returning to their home country in Africa | Go directly to their assigned mission |
Missionaries returning to all other home countries | Remain a missionary, 14-day self-isolation, and then temporarily reassigned |
Missionaries unable to return to their home country (travel restrictions, etc.) | Remain in original mission or temporarily reassigned, as necessary |
All other missionaries | Complete their mission as scheduled |
On Monday, officials released the following guidelines for returning missionaries.