Covid-19 - Easter Sunday upended by the coronavirus

Christians around the world celebrated an Easter Sunday upended by the coronavirus without the usual crowded church Masses and large family gatherings.

Instead, they turned to the internet, television and radio from home to follow services that noted the grave impact of the pandemic. Some found novel ways to mark the holy day. Others still assembled in groups, but took precautions to try to avoid infection, AP reports.

Here’s a sample of Easter events around the world:

Pope Fancis celebrates Easter mass in an empty St. Peter’s Basilica. Easter Sunday Mass, Vatican City, Italy, 12 April 2020 Photograph: Evandro Inetti/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock

At the Vatican, St Peters Square was empty of crowds and ringed by police barricades. Pope Francis celebrated Easter Mass inside the largely vacant basilica, calling for solidarity the world over to confront the epochal challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Pope Fancis celebrates Easter mass in an empty St Peter’s Basilica. Easter Sunday Mass, Vatican City, Italy, 12 Apr 2020 Photograph: Evandro Inetti/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock

In the central German city of Hildesheim, around 400 people participated in a drive-in Catholic Mass for Easter Sunday.

At one of the biggest churches in South Korea, Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church, a small number of masked church followers attended the service broadcast online via the church’s website.

Pope Fancis celebrates Easter mass in an empty St Peter’s Basilica. Easter Sunday Mass, Vatican City, Italy, 12 Apr 2020 Photograph: Evandro Inetti/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock

In the central German city of Hildesheim, around 400 people participated in a drive-in Catholic Mass for Easter Sunday.

At one of the biggest churches in South Korea, Seoul’s Yoido Full Gospel Church, a small number of masked church followers attended the service broadcast online via the church’s website.

Choir members wear mask as they pray during a Easter worship as South Koreans take measures to protect themselves against the spread of coronavirus at the Yoido Full Gospel Church on 12 April 2020 in Seoul, South Korea. Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images