Sister Jean Back To Work After Testing Positive For COVI-19

CHICAGO — Sister Jean Delores Schmidt, the 103-year-old chaplain for Loyola University-Chicago's basketball team, is back at work after spending 10 days in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 the day after her birthday.

Sister Jean returned to campus on Friday after spending time quarantined at her downtown apartment after testing positive on Aug 22. Sister Jean turned 103 on Aug. 21 and celebrated by having a CTA plaza named after her in a ceremony attended by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Sister Jean confirmed to Patch in an email.

“It was a happy day for me,” Sister Jean wrote of her return to campus.

Sister Jean also had a bobblehead and Christmas tree ornament created in her likeness to celebrate her 103rd birthday.

The Loyola Phoenix reported that Sister Jean is no longer experiencing symptoms after isolating. Sister Jean was scheduled to throw out the first pitch at the Cubs-Cardinals game at Wrigley Field after her birthday, but was forced to miss the appearance due to testing positive.

She will now deliver the first pitch on Sept. 27.

Sister Jean previously told Patch that she is tested for COVID-19 weekly and joked that she often is in better health than those testing her.

"They come in and say, 'How you are feeling today, Sister Jean?" she said. "I always say, 'probably better than you.'"

The student paper reported that this is the first time that Sister Jean has tested positive for COVID-19.

"If it had to be, it had to be," Sister Jean told the Phoenix.

In the past, the nun who stepped onto the national stage during Loyola's 2018 run to the NCAA Final Four, has said that she has a very simple recipe for remaining healthy.

"I eat well, sleep well and pray well," Sister Jean says.