Catholic liturgy

Six doctors and four nurses - all the staff on duty in the Covid-19 department of the Sotiria Hospital in Athens on Easter Saturday evening - sing hymns of the Resurrection outside the rooms of 14 patients being treated for the coronavirus.

The Easter celebrations have been "very peaceful," Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Tuesday, adding that no risk of an increase in the risk of an increased spreading of the novel coronavirus can now be related to the holy celebrations. "The holy Easter celebration has been very peaceful.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday said there would be no relaxation of curfew rules in Serbia over Orthodox Easter this weekend - after the Church asked for the weekend curfew to be lifted on Sunday from 5am to 10am to let believers leave home and attend churches for the liturgy.

A priest at a Greek Orthodox church in Nea Kios in the northern Peloponnese conducts the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper late on Wednesday night. The service was broadcast live online as it was conducted without a congregation, following the closure of all places of worship by the government on March 20 as part of efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

He recalled that Easter is celebrated this year in "special conditions" and said that it is possible to implement social distance measures in churches, but added that the SPC accepts and will respect "the advice of the people who can tell us how to fight coronavirus infection".

The Greek government has doubled fines and included removal or car plates for anyone who travels without reason for Orthodox Easter this weekend.

On April 16th the Orthodox Church marks Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries.

Maundy Thursday is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. The day is preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday.

Two more people died from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours in Greece, with overall fatalities standing at 101, Greek officials said in their daily briefing on Tuesday afternoon.

Health Ministry spokesman and infectious disease expert Sotiris Tsiodras said  the average age for the victims was 73 years.

The battle against the invisible enemy, as the coronavirus has become known, is entering its most critical phase

The coming days and our ability to halt the annual Eastern exodus from Attica to the provinces will determine whether arduous and to date successful efforts to contain the epidemic are in the end crowned with success or blown out of the water.

Endeavoring to ensure that Greece stays the course in the battle to contain the spread of Covid-19 during the holiday season, the government is not ruling out the possibility of a ban on the circulation of cars from Saturday at 8 p.m. through Easter Sunday.