Pope and church leaders prepare for virtual Easter as lockdowns tighten worldwide

The pope and other Christian leaders are preparing to give their annual Easter addresses over the internet as churches stand empty and countries around the world continue to extend lockdowns to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Pope Francis will break with centuries of tradition and livestream his Easter Sunday mass to allow the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics to celebrate their holiest holiday.

Fear and confusion in the face of a disease whose official death toll has soared past 100,000, with nearly 1,800,000 confirmed cases, are reshaping society and transforming the way religion is observed.

Billions of people around the world are in lockdown and many countries, from Argentina to Saudi Arabia, have ramped up restrictions as the disease spreads.

Indonesia has imposed curbs on public transport ahead of the annual exodus to home villages that marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Restrictions around the world also pose a problem for enforcement as governments plead with people to stay indoors over the holiday weekend in many countries.

The pope’s virtual prayers are just the most vivid example of religious improvisation in the age of social distancing and confinement. The faithful have already followed his advice and found creative solutions.

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will hail the courage of people working on the front line in response to the coronavirus outbreak as he leads Britain’s first national digital Easter Sunday service from his kitchen.

Welby will also call for “a resurrection of our common life” in the video from his flat at Lambeth Palace in London.

“After so much suffering, so much heroism from key workers and the NHS, we cannot be content to go back to what was before as if all is normal,” he will say in the sermon recorded on his iPad.

Lifeguards try to remove surfers in the water during the Easter weekend at Bronte Beach in Sydney. Photograph: Joel Carrett/EPA

 “There needs to be a resurrection of our common life.”

The Queen also issued an Easter message, saying the celebration would be “different” but insisted Easter was not cancelled and that the story of resurrection gave hope that the world can overcome the virus and resume normal life again.

The archbishop of Panama took to the air and blessed his central American nation from a helicopter. The faithful in Spain blasted religious music from their balconies during Holy Week.

The Catholic Church in the Philippines has urged the faithful not to kiss the cross. Its Orthodox counterpart in Greece is planning to hold mass behind closed doors for its Easter on 19 April.

Jewish worshippers across the world did their best by using Zoom or other video conferencing apps to “seder-in-place” when the eight-day Passover holiday started on Wednesday evening.

Even such hallowed traditions as the pope’s Easter Day address to the faithful on St Peter’s Square will be replaced by prayers that Francis will livestream.

His Easter Sunday mass and “Urbi et Orbi” blessing drew 70,000 to Saint Peter’s Square last year. The Vatican’s entrance is now sealed off by armed police wearing face masks and rubber gloves.

“Easter offers a message of hope in people’s darkest hour,” the 83-year-old pontiff said at a late-night vigil mass on Saturday in an empty St Peter’s Basilica. The public was barred because of the pandemic, and around the world Catholics followed his service and other masses on television or online.

“Do not be afraid, do not yield to fear. This is the message of hope,” said the pope.

The Vatican was only one of thousands of cities across the world in lockdown over the weekend with restirctions intensifying in many parts of the globe. Here are the main developments:

Mainland China has reported 99 new cases on Saturday, of which all but two were imported. The country’s national health commission said no one had died from the virus on Saturday. Of the 97 imported cases recorded, 43 were in the city of Shanghai.

Lockdowns have been extended in Saudi Arabia, Argentina and Puerto Rico among other countries. Indonesia has increased curbs on movement ahead of the expected Ramadan exodus. Public buses, trains, airplanes and ships will only be allowed to fill half their seats.

Hospitals in Moscow have seen a “huge influx” in coronavirus patients, according to reports. Ambulances were seen queueing for hours to enter one hospital amid concerns that the virus is only in the “foothills” in Russia’s capital. Russia has reported 13,584 cases of the virus and 106 deaths.

Boris Johnson says he “owes his life” to NHS staff after he was discharged from intensive care at a hospital in London. It ended a dramatic week for the British prime minister.

Donald Trump has told the Fox show Justice with Judge Jeanine that he will make a decision about reopening the US economy based on “a lot of facts and instincts”.

China might use the economic fallout of the virus to increase its debt stranglehold on developing nations, experts at Harvard have warned. It comes amid growing calls for creditor nations to forgive debts to enable countries to rebuild after the virus.

Elderly people may have to be kept isolated until the end of the year to protect them from the coronavirus, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has said. “Without a vaccine, we have to limit as much as possible contact with the elderly,” she told the Germany daily Bild.