Church spokesman Sam Penrod released the following statement on Thursday, December 30, 2021:
Since the Provo Missionary Training Center resumed in-person training in June, precautions and COVID protocols have helped to keep any COVID cases to a minimum. These precautions include requiring all missionaries to be fully vaccinated before arrival and available testing of those training in the MTC. However, after several missionaries tested positive earlier this week, all 588 missionaries in the Provo MTC were tested and a total of 91 tested positive. Of the missionaries who tested positive, few have reported being symptomatic or feeling ill.
The Provo MTC continues to operate at a reduced capacity and so there are ample facilities to isolate those who are negative and quarantine those who are positive. Additional protocols are now in place involving procedures in the cafeteria and gymnasium. Face coverings will be worn indoors during all classes, meetings, and devotionals. Missionaries will not travel to their assigned missions unless they are negative for COVID or have completed all necessary quarantine periods. New arriving missionaries will be required to have a negative COVID test when they report on Wednesdays.
