Coronavirus: Pope Francis to deliver Vatican sermon by livestream

The Vatican is unveiling measures to protect the health of its elderly population

Foreign visitors are spooked by the coronavirus outbreak in Italy. AP

Pope Francis is to deliver Sunday's prayer by livestream as Italy called in retired doctors as the escalating coronavirus epidemic emptied streets in Europe's worst affected country.

The 83-year-old head of the Catholic Church broke with centuries of tradition by enlisting the help of technology to keep crowds from descending on Saint Peter's Square for the traditional Angelus Prayer.

"The prayer will be broadcast via livestream by Vatican News and on screens in Saint Peter's Square," the Vatican said in a statement.

It had originally promised to review the Argentine-born pope's schedule "to avoid the dissemination" of coronavirus.

The Vatican appears to believe that the pope's absence from his traditional spot at the window will keep the crowds on the vast square down and the threat of contagion low.

The pope himself has been out of action for more than a week with a cold.

The Vatican is in the process of unrolling unprecedented health precautions designed to keep the city state's 450 mostly elderly residents safe.

It recorded its first infection on Thursday and was awaiting the results of a test on another person who appeared at a Vatican-organised event last month.

That conference was also attended by Microsoft President Brad Smith and European Parliament President David Sassoli.

The Vatican said all those present were being notified about the test as a precaution.

The Italian government has found itself at the forefront of the global fight against an epidemic that has convulsed the markets and paralysed global supply chains since first emerging in China late last year.

Health officials screen the temperature of workers on a Nile cruise ship near Luxor, Egypt. According to Egypt's Health Ministry, 12 people tested positive for coronavirus on a Nile cruise ship coming from Aswan and heading to Luxor. EPA

People look at a man wearing a protective mask as a means of prevention against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Al Rahman mosque, after Friday prayers, in the southern suburb of Maadi, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. REUTERS

Revolutionary Guard members disinfect an ATM machine to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in Tehran, Iran. AP Photo

Iraqi medical staff rest after checking passengers' temperature, amid coronavirus outbreak, at Najaf airport, Iraq. REUTERS

The outbreak map dashboard showing statistics on the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States during a briefing from Johns Hopkins University on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. AFP

A sanitation worker wears a protective face mask after a case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country, at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru. REUTERS

Children walk past an image of Mona Lisa with a protective face mask after further cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Barcelona, Spain. REUTERS

Empty shelves at a Walmart as people have started to rush and stock first necessity products over fear of a coronavirus outbreak, in Los Angeles, California, USA. EPA

A couple wear face masks as they ride an escalator at a shopping mall in Beijing. AP Photo

Soldiers from The High Command of Chemicals under Vietnam's Ministry of National Defence spray disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus on Truc Bach street in Hanoi, Vietnam. A 26-year-old Vietnamese woman recently back from Europe has tested positive for coronavirus, the first confirmed case after weeks. Since the outbreak began, the country has reported only 17 cases of COVID-19, 16 of whom have been cured and released from hospital. EPA

A camera operator wears a protective mask as British Columbia Premier John Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix, back right, and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, hidden, take questions during a news conference about the provincial response to the coronavirus, in Vancouver, British Columbia. AP

US President Donald Trump (C) holds a picture of the coronavirus with US Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar (L), CDC Director Robert Redfield (2nd R), and CDC Associate Director for Laboratory Science and Safety (ADLSS) Dr. Steve Monroe (R) during a tour of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. AFP

Ministers decided at an all-night emergency meeting to call in retired doctors as part of an effort to bolster the strained healthcare system with 20,000 additional staff.

Italy recorded 36 more deaths on Saturday and has now seen 233 die from COVID-19 in two weeks.

The head of the Italian ruling coalition's junior partner became the latest high-profile figure to confirm they had been infected.

"I am fine," the Democratic Party's Nicola Zingaretti said on Facebook. "I will have to stay at home for the next few days."

The accelerating spread of the illness emptied Italian train stations and Rome's normally busy streets.

Many of the city's outdoor restaurants and cafes were either closed at night or had free tables overseen by forlorn staff with little to do but chat.

The street that runs from Rome's Colosseum along the Forum was deserted and the magnificent ruins stood in their natural splendour -- without swarms of tourists -- on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

"The situation here in Rome really is catastrophic," city guide Francesca Sposito told AFP outside the Colosseum.

"I think the newspapers have really exaggerated things and scared people away."

The sharp drop in visitor numbers is wreaking havoc with the Italian tourism industry and contributing to fears that the anaemic economy is about to tip back into recession.

But the government's most immediate concern is that northern virus-hit regions might start to run out of hospital beds.

Milan's Lombardy region "is facing a tense situation," civil protection service chief Berrelli told reporters.

"We expect to be asked to start transferring intensive care patients from there to other regions."

The government said its medical recruitment drive should increase the number of intensive care beds from 5,000 to 7,500 in the coming days.

The number of Italians receiving intensive treatment for the virus reached 567 on Saturday.

Italy's relatively high mortality rate of 3.96 percent might be explained by its relatively older population.

Most Italian victims have been in their 80s and 90s. The rate in South Korea - a northeast Asian country with more cases but fewer fatalities - is 0.68 percent.