Christians celebrated Easter Sunday under coronavirus lockdown in many countries with church pews empty and the pope on live stream, as the US death toll from the disease passed 20,000.
At the climax of Holy Week for the planet s two billion-plus Christians, congregations were shuttered at home to avoid spreading the pathogen that has infected at least 1.7 million worldwide.
Pope Francis was set to break with centuries of tradition by taking his Easter mass online, with Saint Peter s Square — packed every year with worshippers — left deserted.
The United States, with around a fifth of the more than 100,000 total COVID-19 deaths, topped the list for both fatalities and numbers of declared cases, according to a tally maintained by Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.
Italy, the hardest-hit country in Europe, has recorded more than 19,000 confirmed virus deaths — second only to the US, which has a population five times its size.
But hopes began to rise in Western Europe and heavily infected parts of America that the pandemic was peaking.
Many were looking to China s Wuhan, where the disease first emerged late last year, as life began to return to normal while officials lifted stay-inside restrictions.
However for much of the world, from India to France, strict lockdowns were still in force.
A handful of US priests and pastors risked arrest by announcing they would hold public services in their churches on Sunday, snubbing rules and medical advice.
But most were putting services online, and some were innovating with “drive-in” blessings.
President Donald Trump will be among those following Easter services online, tweeting he would log on Sunday morning to watch Robert Jeffress, the leader of a Southern Baptist megachurch in Texas and an ardent supporter of the US leader.
