WORLD powers scrambled Thursday to build a global response to the human and economic catastrophe caused by the coronavirus epidemic, as death tolls in the US and Europe soared higher.
In a locked-down New York, the UN Security Council was to meet on the pandemic for the first time, and in Brussels, EU finance ministers were wrangling over how to bail out hard-hit Italy and Spain.
On the spiritual front, Pope Francis was preparing to celebrate Maundy Thursday with The Mass of the Lord’s Supper, but he was to be unable to perform the tradition of washing the feet of the faithful in case of infection.
And Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Muslim worshippers to pray at home rather than in crowded mosques, even when the holy month of Ramadan begins later this month.
