Displaying items by tag: coronavirus

Papa Jörg, an intercessor-evangelist in Hamburg, prays for ‘Ahmad’, a friend of an Iranian believer that Papa Jörg led to faith in Jesus and regularly prays for. At the beginning of March Ahmad had a lung infection and passed out in an Iranian hospital. He had COVID-19 and was put on life support. The Iranian doctors said there was nothing else to be done but pray. So Papa Jörg prayed. Every day he recorded his prayers for Ahmad over WhatsApp and sent them to his friend. On the 17th day, he received a message that he was recovering, and two days later Ahmad was healed of COVID-19. ‘Do the Iranian doctors know that we Christians prayed for Ahmad?’ Papa Jörg asked. ‘Yes’, replied his friend, ‘I sent your message to him every day, and Ahmad’s sister told everyone’. For other stories of hope, click the ‘More’ button.

A nursing home in Washington had an outbreak of Covid-19. 34 residents died and a further 101 had the virus. 90-year-old Geneva Wood was recovering from a stroke. A few days before she was to return home, the disease struck and the centre went on lockdown. Then Geneva caught Covid-19. While she was alone in isolation one night she thought she was dying. ‘I could feel God’s presence. His hands were on my body and I could feel His presence and I would wake up and I could feel these hands and I would go back to sleep. Through the night, I would wake up, I couldn’t see His face, but I could feel His hands and I knew He was with me and I made it through the night. My faith in God, my family, and the church’s prayers pulled me through.’

At the time of writing, Boris Johnson is still in hospital, but out of intensive care and 'responding to treatment' after contracting coronavirus and not improving in isolation at home. The Archbishop of Canterbury urged Britain to pray for Boris and thanked the NHS in the country's fight against coronavirus. Boris is being closely monitored by a top lung doctor and his fever has eased while he remains clinically stable. He has been sitting up in bed and engaged positively with the clinical team, although not yet working. He can contact those he needs to as lockdown rules are discussed at this critical time. The NHS medical director warned, ‘Now is not the time to become complacent’. Downing Street hopes that Boris is over the worst of the infection. Pray for health and God’s healing to touch his body. Pray for God to impact his immune system.

On 8 April Rishi Sunak announced that the Government has promised an extra £750 million coronavirus funding for frontline charities across the UK. The support package will ensure that they can continue their vital work during the coronavirus outbreak. The Government will also match funds with whatever the public decides to donate to the BBC’s Big Night In charity appeal on 23 April, starting with a contribution of at least £20 million to the National Emergencies Trust appeal. Mr Sunak said, ‘Our charities are playing a crucial role in the national fight against coronavirus, supporting those who are most in need. It is right that we do everything we can to help the sector during this difficult time.’ Among the charities that will benefit will be those supporting domestic abuse victims, end of life hospices, foodbanks, those delivering food or essential medicines, and those providing financial advice. Pray for the administration between departments identifying priority recipients to flow smoothly and speedily.

So far this year almost 500 migrants have been intercepted while crossing the Dover Straits, from coronavirus-infected Calais camps. On 8 April four boats carrying 57 migrants (23 of them Iranian) were intercepted by the Border Force in the English Channel. The previous day 63 migrants had tried to cross the Channel, despite lockdown measures remaining in place in the UK. Last week 52 Iranian, Iraqi and Afghan nationals, including five children, came ashore at Dover. All such migrants will be monitored for signs of Covid-19, the Home Office added. They go into isolation, and twenty places are reserved for those with coronavirus symptoms. Up to 3,000 migrants are living in northern France in desperate conditions, at high risk from coronavirus. Pray for the home secretary and her French counterpart as they tackle this situation, complicated by the coronavirus crisis. See

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reported that Nadia, a four-year-old female Malayan tiger, has tested positive for COVID-19. She, her sister, two Amur tigers, and three African lions had a dry cough. All are expected to recover. This positive COVID-19 test for the tiger was confirmed by the veterinary services laboratory and the animal health inspection service. A WCS spokesman said, ‘Coronavirus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumped from animals to humans. Now, it’s jumping back. WCS said that any knowledge gained about COVID-19 will be shared to aid the world’s understanding of this novel coronavirus. It is not known how this disease will develop in big cats, since different species react differently to novel infections. The zoo will issue additional information as warranted. A provisional warning was issued that domestic cats should be kept indoors.

The scientific community is on the hunt for effective, scalable treatments for coronavirus, while at the same time developing a safe and tested vaccine. It took five years to produce an Ebola vaccine. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation said that human trials with an experimental COVID-19 vaccine have already begun. One of a group of volunteers involved in testing, Jennifer Haller, became the first person to receive one at Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute. There is no risk of the volunteers becoming infected, because the shots of the vaccine (named RNA-1273) do not contain the coronavirus itself. WHO says there are over forty potential vaccines and as many as one hundred undergoing development, although only a handful are as yet being clinically tested. There are over thirty companies and academic institutions worldwide trying different approaches to find the silver bullet to beat COVID-19.

For over fifty years Tearfund has responded to disasters, learning lessons which are helping them respond to coronavirus. From their work tackling Ebola in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo, they know that faith leaders play a vital role in conveying public health messages to communities. They are responding to coronavirus through their global network of local church partners helping them to promote the right messages (particularly around good hygiene and sanitation) and to correct lies and misinformation about the disease. They are giving advice on how to care for and look out for their communities; to have an answer for tough theological questions about why the coronavirus has happened; and to encourage communities to pray for an end to the outbreak. Tearfund is also in close contact with other humanitarian organisations so that everyone is drawing on the experience of others.

Did you know that COVID-19 is caused by 5G networks, and that you can cure it with a hairdryer or with a drug that isn't FDA-approved? None of this is true. Yet millions around the world believe this as part of a vast storm of conspiracy theories, scams, and virus disinformation on the internet and social media. In this season of fear and danger there is an enormous need by the public for information that is comforting and reassuring. irrespective of whether it's true. The UN and WHO call this an ‘infodemic,’ which is spreading alongside the pandemic, complicating efforts to slow and treat COVID-19. They have even published a handy myth-buster - for example, drinking alcohol doesn't kill the virus, no matter what the President of Belarus says.

Coronavirus has soared in Latin America recently: the worst in Brazil, followed by Chile and Ecuador where bodies lie in the streets. Beyond the public health toll, the economic impact could be catastrophic. Lockdowns and social distancing risk triggering the worst recession in fifty years. Fourteen Latin American and Caribbean countries have asked the IMF for financial lifelines, totalling $4.48 billion. Even before coronavirus, many of their economies were suffering from low oil prices, with some countries almost in outright recession. 80 emerging economies have so far requested financial relief from the $1 trillion earmarked by the IMF for relief.