Italy has banned all religious ceremonies, including Masses and funerals, in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The highly restrictive decision keeps the ban on public liturgies in place until 3 April and comes after the government quarantined 16 million people in the north of the country.

In the Vatican, Pope Francis’ public celebrations of the Angelus and Wednesday audience are taking place behind closed doors and live-streamed into St Peter’s Square. Francis’ private masses in the Casa Santa Marta have been closed off to guests but, for the first time, have been broadcast live online.

“In these days, I will offer Mass for those who are sick from the coronavirus epidemic, for the doctors, nurses, volunteers who are helping them, for their families, for the elderly in nursing homes, for prisoners,” the 83-year-old Pope, who has tested negative for the virus after suffering from a cold, said as he opened the liturgy on March 9 morning.

Meanwhile, the Holy See announced the closure of the Vatican museums until 3 April along with all the museums attached to pontifical basilicas and papal villas.

Elsewhere, the city of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank has been placed in lockdown after the first cases of the coronavirus. The Church of the Nativity was closed on 5 March and, along with other sites, is expected to be shuttered for a month. This is just weeks ahead of the busy Easter holiday. All tourist buses to and from Bethlehem have been banned until further notice. French bishops who met with the Pope on March 9 during their “ad limina” visit to Rome sat in chairs that were placed one metre apart, and at a significant distance from Francis.