Four others, all older than 66, lost their battle against the pandemic last week.

The Congregation of the Precious Blood Sisters said that there'd been a surge in the number of coronavirus infections at the convent that also serves as an old age home.

A bell sounds through the Mother House Convent, announcing that another sister has died of COVID-19.

Overcome with emotion, head of the Mother House Convent, Missionary Sister Nokwanda Bam, said that a fifth nun succumbed to the virus on Wednesday morning.

"It is telling all the other sisters that we have a death, so all the sisters in the rooms will pray for the sister's soul.

Bam, who herself is COVID-19 positive, said that although the Health Department checked up on them daily, she had to assist in caring for the other nuns who'd fallen ill and were in quarantine at the nunnery.

"Our rooms are not yet fumigated, the dining room is not yet fumigated, so we have these challenges that still need to be addressed - fumigation, nurses to look after the sisters who are COVID-19 positive, these are our pressing challenges."

One sister, who also tested positive for the virus, is in a critical condition.

Seventeen have tested positive, 15 are negative and three are still waiting for their test results.

Eyewitness News