Pope to make appearances online amid worldwide coronavirus concerns

The Vatican says Pope Francis will not address crowds from a window overlooking St Peter's Square, appearing online instead amid coronavirus concerns.

A view of Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, on 6 March 2020.

A view of Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, on 6 March 2020. Source: ANSA

Pope Francis has cancelled his main public appearances to avoid crowds gathering to see him and will stream them on the internet from inside the Vatican because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

The Vatican said that on Sunday he would not address crowds from a window overlooking St Peter's Square and would not hold his general audience there either on Wednesday.
They will be held without general public participation from inside the Vatican.

The 83-year-old pope cancelled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy, but the Vatican has said he is suffering only from a cold that is "without symptoms related to other pathologies".

First coronavirus case

The news comes after it was revealed by the Vatican that a patient in its health services had tested positive for coronavirus - the first in the tiny city-state surrounded by Rome.

A Vatican source said the patient had participated in an international conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Life last week in a packed theatre several blocks from the Vatican.

Participants at the three-day conference on Artificial Intelligence included top executives of US tech giants Microsoft and IBM.
The academy issued a separate statement saying it was informing all other participants of the development by email but did not say it was the same person whose case was announced earlier by Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

The discovery worsened the prospects of the virus having already spread further in the capital of Italy, since most Vatican employees live in Rome and those who live in the Vatican frequently enter and leave the city-state.

Mr Bruni said the case was diagnosed on Thursday and that services in its clinics had been suspended to sanitise the areas.
Most Vatican employees who use its health services live in Italy on the other side of the border with the 108-acre city-state.

Mr Bruni gave no details on whether the person who tested positive was such an employee or among the relatively few clergies or guards who live inside its walls.


Share
2 min read
Published 8 March 2020 7:08am
Updated 8 March 2020 11:24am


Share this with family and friends