Francis counseled: “Don’t waste these difficult days,” instead “rediscover” the importance of “small, concrete gestures expressing closeness and concreteness toward the people closest to us, a caress for our grandparents, a kiss for our children, for the people we love.”
As the Dulbin St. Patrick's Day parade is cancelled due to coronavirus fears, the Irish Catholic Church is also taking preventative steps to combat the illness.
The normal services of the health and hygiene sector of the Vatican city-state were “temporarily suspended” following yesterday’s positive test for Covid-19 on one patient in order “to sanitize the areas.”
Italy has reported more than 1,800 cases of the China-born virus and 66 people have died while nearly 150 have recovered, while the rest allegedly remain in quarantine. Most of the cases were reported in northern Italy, near Milan and Venice.