COVID-19 : Live streaming of Churches prayer sessions, says Archbishop Madras-Mylapore

Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore, George Anthony Swamy on Sunday said that the churches have started live streaming of prayers sessions to avoid gathering of people during the coronavirus outbreak.

He also hailed the Janata curfew being adopted nationwide at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"There is a restriction on a large gathering of people. So, we are organizing the praying session via YouTube so the people do not need to come to the church for the holy mass," Swamy told ANI here.

"The Janata curfew has begun well, and I have been told that buses, trains are not running and people are keeping to their homes. This gives us time to sit together as a family and spend quality time. We should treat this as a serious measure to fight back the coronavirus and follow it strictly till 9 pm," he added.

The Janata curfew which began at 7 am on Sunday will come to an end at 9 pm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier on Thursday urged the people to keep to their homes on March 22 in a bid to combat the COVID-19.

So far 315 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). There have been four deaths due to the disease.