Displaying items by tag: coronavirus

Pastor Huang Lei leads a church in Wuhan. The coronavirus crisis makes it impossible for his church to have their usual gatherings, so they are meeting online. They are not just doing church, but being church. ‘First, we have more than 50 groups,’ he says. ‘Almost all the groups are meeting via the internet - praying, studying the Bible, sharing, witnessing, praising and worshipping. Of those 50, we have over 30 groups spending two hours every day to pray, worship, share and testify together. That’s far more frequent than our normal meetings. Of course, now we have more free time; everybody is staying at home, so that’s given us the chance to do this. But we usually have the group meeting weekly and now we’re doing this daily. Sometimes even more, so we are very grateful for that.’

Coronavirus is now a pandemic. Our government is taking various measures to reduce social contact and contain those infected. Newspaper editors are urged to avoid spreading panic. Jesus told his disciples, ‘I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes’. Jesus told his disciples to focus their lives upon the Kingdom of God and Kingdom values. Pray for Christians to set an example of putting fear in its rightful place. Continue to pray for the protection of the elderly and those with existing health conditions, asking God to provide solutions amid the challenges they may have with hospital appointments and prompting wise choices as they assess their involvement in community activities. The government's Cobra committee is co-ordinating the nation’s response to coronavirus. May God be with each minister, civil servant and official in this committee; may they neither over-react nor make erroneous choices.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his first Budget in the House of Commons on 11 March. Parts of it appear to have been written at the last minute as coronavirus spreads across the nation. His spending plans include a £5bn emergency response to support the NHS and other public services with statutory sick pay for all who choose to self-isolate, even if they don't have virus symptoms. Benefit claimants will be able to claim sick pay on day one, not after a week, and there is a £500m hardship fund allocated to help vulnerable people. To try to save businesses from liquidation, firms with fewer than 250 staff will be refunded for sick pay payments for two weeks, and small firms will be able to access ‘business interruption’ loans of up to £1.2m. Business rates will be abolished for firms in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors with a rateable value of less than £51,000.

‘Jehovah Shalom, Lord of Peace, we remember those living in coronavirus hotspots and those currently in isolation. May they know Your presence, Your peace in their turmoil and your patience in their waiting. God of Comfort and Counsel, we pray for the grieving, reeling from the sudden loss of loved-ones; may they find Your fellowship in their suffering, Your comfort in their loss, and Your hope in their despair. Jehovah Rapha, God who heals, we pray for all medical professionals dealing daily with the intense pressures of this crisis. Grant them resilience in weariness, discernment in diagnosis, and compassion as they care. We thank you for the army of researchers working steadily and quietly towards a cure: give them clarity and unexpected breakthroughs. May You rise above this present darkness as the Sun of Righteousness with healing in your rays.’ For the full prayer, click the ‘More’ button.

We must continue to look to God and pray that people would not become unduly fearful. Pray that the coronavirus will not have any negative effects on the preparations for, and progress of, many Christian and secular Easter celebrations across the country. When times are at their worst, Christians should be at their best. We saw glimpses of this in China. Christians facing state-sponsored persecution are out in the streets giving out masks and sharing the love of Christ with their non-believing neighbours. That behaviour comes from knowing that this world belongs to God, and that He is able to wipe away every tear from our eyes. The government is advising hospitals to carry video-based patient consultations, and is moving towards the ‘delay - second stage’ to slow the spread of the virus. Pray that their precautions are successful, and that no further action ‘stages’ will be needed. 

A coalition of Christians across denominational lines has united to pray for an end to the coronavirus. Cindy Jacobs says, ‘We believe strongly that since this is a worldwide issue, it is going to take the whole Church to cry out together for the mercy and healing power of God to contain it.’ Church leaders stood united to fast and pray on 3 March to petition the Sovereign Lord for His mercy. Let us continue to knock on Heaven’s door, praying Psalm 91 over families and nations, binding fear, knowing that God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). Pray for wisdom for our leaders and safety for emergency responders working to protect people and prevent the virus spreading. Pray for Christians to have a calm courage to share the Word effectively through this time of crisis. For the prayer petition click the ‘More’ button.

On 15 February WHO prioritised support for thirteen African countries whose fragile health systems are already overwhelmed. It is critical to detect coronavirus early to prevent spreading within communities without the treatment capacity. Since 3 February African countries have been receiving technical guidance and advice on how to limit human-to-human transmission, so that they isolate and provide appropriate treatment to affected people. An Africa task force has been working with the WHO, screening points of entry, controlling in health-care facilities, advising on infection prevention and clinical management of people, laboratory diagnosis and community engagement. On 5 March five African countries had coronavirus - Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, and Algeria. See

As we are going to print, Dr Mike Ryan, the WHO’s director of health emergencies, has explained that the global risk level of "very high" is the highest alert the organisation can declare.

He said earlier that it would be "unhelpful" to declare a pandemic when the world was still trying to contain the virus.

"If we say there's a pandemic of coronavirus we're essentially accepting that every human on the planet will be exposed to that virus. The data does not support that as yet," he said.

The World Health Organization is disappointed that it cannot provide more protective equipment to medical workers because of a global shortage, Dr Michael Ryan told a news conference in Geneva.

Here is a summary of the latest situation:

• The World Health Organization upgrades the global risk from the coronavirus to "very high"
• Stock markets across the globe are suffering their worst week since 2008
• The first British death from Covid-19 is announced in Japan
• Nigeria and Mexico confirm their first cases
• China confirms another 327 cases - the lowest daily increase for a month - and 44 deaths, mainly in Hubei
• New Zealand, Belarus, the Netherlands, and Lithuania confirm first cases

New infections outside China top those within (see map image)

Almost 80,000 people in China have been infected with the coronavirus - known officially as Covid-19 - since the virus's discovery in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province, in December.

Although the vast majority of cases of the respiratory infection, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, remain in China, the virus is now spreading faster outside the country than inside.

The three biggest international outbreaks detected so far have been in South Korea, with more than 2,000 cases, on board the British-registered Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, which has seen more than 700 people infected, and Italy, with more than 640 confirmed cases.

The virus has pandemic potential

The jump in the number of daily confirmed cases internationally has raised fears the outbreak could become a pandemic - when an infectious disease spreads easily from person to person in many parts of the world.

The spread has reached a "decisive point" and has "pandemic potential", WHO head Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus says.

The US has declared the outbreak a public health emergency, the UK has deemed it a "serious and imminent threat" to public health and Japan has closed all its school

Medical researchers and scientists say it is too early to accurately predict how the virus will spread or calculate the death rate, partly due to mild cases remaining untested and unrecorded and a time lag of reporting infections.

As there is not yet a specific anti-viral treatment for coronavirus, people with the infection are currently being treated for their symptoms.

By Lucy Rodgers, Mike Hills, Dominic Bailey and Wesley Stephenson
More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cyz0z8w0ydwt/coronavirus-outbreak

Pray: for all those affected by this as-yet not fully understood strain of the Coronavirus.
Pray: that the spread of the virus will be contained. Pray: that the economic impacts will be minimised.
Pray: for wisdom and insight for the medical researchers who are seeking both to build their understanding of the virus and the way that it mutates and to identify an effective inoculation and treatment.

Prayer Summit 2020

Global Prayer for Northeast Asia

Dear Delegates,

It is with much deliberation and prayerful consideration that the Prayer Summit Organizing Team would
like to announce the CANCELLATION AND POSTPONEMENT of the Prayer Summit 2020 from April 7-9 in
Seoul, Korea.

This comes in view of the COVID-19 outbreak, and the South Korean government has raised the alert to
Level 4, or "serious," advising deep caution and restriction in travels within and out of the country.

The delegates' and volunteers' well-being and safety are of utmost importance as well as being in tune
with how the Lord is steering us. The leaders and organizers convened over the span of a few days to
deliberate and pray, and we felt this was the best call to make at this point.

In light of this cancellation, the Prayer Summit Committee will give a FULL REFUND to all who have
signed up and paid for the conference fee. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment caused, and thank you for your gracious understanding.

We will soon post the updated dates for the Prayer Summit 2020.

Please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. should you have any further inquiries.

In this challenging time, we request for your prayers. We believe that the Lord has much good planned in this situation.

For His Kingdom,
Sarah Lee
Prayer Summit 2020 Organizer
Christian Council of Korea, Co-Chair
Website: www.prayersummit2020.com
Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Ministers and health officials are working to contain any UK coronavirus outbreaks. Public Health England began ‘Early Warning’ (See) coronavirus tests on patients with coughs, fevers or shortness of breath at 100 GP surgeries and 8 hospitals. The tests are employed (regardless of patients not having travelled to infected areas) to give early warnings of a more widespread infection developing. One employee of Chevron Oil was tested for the virus and 300 London staff were advised to work from home, Crossrail and media firm OMD staff are also working from home as a precaution. May calmness replace any anxiety in communities as pre-emptive moves are made to contain infection. Several schools have closed after pupils returned from half-term skiing trips in Italy. Pray for a peaceful atmosphere to cover homes of families who are self-isolating. May all awaiting test results experience calmness. Pray also for waves of common sense to flow through the nation as the media give daily virus updates. See also A pastor calls for calm