Philippines priests deliver blessings from the back of trucks during Palm Sunday

To boost the morale of the people amid increasing cases of coronavirus pandemic, the priests in the Philippines delivered blessings from the back of trucks and motorized tricycles by adapting the traditional way to battle against coronavirus infection. In order to seek blessings from the priests, the citizens lined up in front of their homes amid the COVOD-19 lockdown, maintaining the strict instructions of social distancing.

Priests deliver blessings

As and when the procession of the priests moved on the streets, they made the cross sign in the air as they rolled past waving residents marking Palm Sunday week which culminates with Easter. Several people thronged outside their houses to take blessings and one of the citizens who was a part of the celebrations reportedly said that the celebrations will continue to happen despite the increasing danger of the deadly virus in the Philippines. This act of kindness by the priests of showering blessings on the people come after the country registered a total of 144 cases of fatalities and 3,094 confirmed virus cases, and the numbers continue to soar as the nation has increased testing for COVID-19 patients.

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The quarantine period that has closed several schools, businesses and halted all social and religious events across several nations, is expected to get extended beyond mid-April, authorities have reportedly said. Easter is an auspicious and major holiday in the Philippines when millions of people who are staying outside the country, come back to their native towns. But, due to the heavy restrictions this year citing the COVID-19 disease, the trips will get disrupted. Bans on a large number of public events will also mean that churches that were once thronged by people will be empty and save for the priests to perform mass that will be live-streamed into millions of homes.

A man shot dead for violating lockdown

While the unprecedented outbreak of coronavirus has forced world leaders to intensify their precautionary measures to curb the spread, a 63-year-old man in the Philippines has been shot dead for violating isolation rules. According to international reports, the police said that the man threatened the village officials and the policemen with a scythe checkpoint assembled for the COVID-19 outbreak. The man is believed to be intoxicated with alcohol when he threatened the villagers as well as the police officials in Nasipit in the southern province of Agusan del Norte.

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As of April 6, the Philippines has recorded at least 3,414 confirmed cases of the coronavirus with 152 fatalities. However, according to the police report, the suspect was first cautioned by a worker in the village for not wearing a mask to prevent COVID-19 spread.

Image Credits: AP