Displaying items by tag: pandemic

A prayer report looking at Covid-19 Hot Spots, Flattening the Curve, and Hopes for a Vaccine with links to resources.

As of 1st July, the total global figure for people infected by Covid-19 stands at 10.3 million according to the World Health Organisation. In addition, the current death toll stands at over 500,000.

Covid-19 hot spots

Brazil has been hugely impacted due to a blend of inconsistent and incoherent rules, and economic inequality making access to healthcare difficult for poorer citizens. This has given the country the highest number of deaths globally over recent weeks and second in confirmed cases. To make matters worse, the true number of cases is likely much higher due to their low rate of testing with a study by the University of Sao Paolo Medical School estimating that the true rate of infection is 15 times greater.

Elsewhere in South America Chile, French Guiana, and Peru have recorded among the top 10 countries in the world for confirmed cases per 100,000 population despite stricter lockdown restrictions than Brazil’s.

These statistics may be in part explained by differing test rates between countries making international comparisons difficult. The same issue applies to how deaths are recorded in different countries.

The US has the most confirmed cases in the world, growing to almost 2.6 million as a result of a recent big increase in the rate of infection in southern and western states after many regions loosened lockdown restrictions prematurely.

Over Europe the rate of infection has stabilised to a confirmed case number of 130,000 per week; half of the rate at its peak of the virus. Hotspots on the continent can be found in Russia where the new daily cases remain around 7,000, and with smaller regional outbreaks within the likes of Ukraine, UK, France, and Germany.

Other countries around the world struggling to contain the virus include India, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia, where the numbers of new cases and deaths are strongly rising.

Has the curve flattened?

In some countries around the world where good social distancing has been practised, masks worn where necessary, efficient testing and quarantining has taken place, and test-and-trace systems have been implemented, the rate of infection has been shown to fall and in some places be reduced to 0. This has been fully enacted by small countries and island nations and has seen positive results from larger countries such as New Zealand, Taiwan, and Iceland where the virus was once prominent.

In other countries, there has been impatience during lockdown, not waiting long enough for case rates to fall before reopening. This prevents a reduced rate of transmission, which doesn’t work towards the eradication of the virus. Through further restlessness and more easing of lockdown restrictions, the rate of transmission has increased again producing a so-called ‘second spike’ as shown by the recent dramatic increase in cases in the US or Iran.

The efforts that have been put in place by countries all over the world have reduced the impacts of the virus, though. Without the measures such as social distancing designed to reduce transmission, the new numbers of cases would likely not have dropped, and the death toll would have been much higher by now.

Vaccine update

Two drugs have received emergency use authorisation from the Food and Drug Administration for use in clinical trials on patients to test their effectiveness in treating coronavirus. The first of these, hydroxychloroquine, had this authorisation removed after studies showed the drug not to be effective, and the second, remdesivir is awaiting data. It will likely be months before a treatment drug can be proven, and longer before it can be widespread.

Numerous vaccine trials are taking place around the world including one produced by the University of Oxford taking place in Brazil with 5,000 participants, and a smaller trial in Germany generating positive results in its initial phases.

Let us continue to declare that the novel coronavirus is defeated by the blood of Jesus.

We pray for divine intervention and for God's name to be glorified even as each nation and government tries its best to flatten the curve and finally arrest this epidemic. 

We release wisdom, skill, and integrity upon our leaders. 

We pray for protection, wisdom and strength, for those working to bring treatment and comfort to the sick and their families.

We pray special grace and help for the vulnerable population and nations. We pray for refugees and displaced peoples. We pray against domestic violence and other crimes that have become rampant during lockdowns.

We pray for a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine to be released soonest.

We continue to release faith, hope, and love over the peoples of the world. May the Church seize this opportune time to manifest Jesus our Lord and Savior to those who are seeking answers and peace.

Pray: Lord God, the One who has Almighty power, we agree according to your promise in Matthew 18:18-20 that this virus will be stopped in its tracks. That the medical researchers will get a download from Heaven on how to quickly develop a vaccine to counteract COVID-19 and a cure for those who have become infected.

We also agree in prayer, asking that the Body of Christ worldwide will rise up in love and boldness, trusting in your blood to cover and protect us and throwing off fear, so that we can be available to serve, bless, and bear witness to those around us who are terrified and depressed at being infected.

Let us seize this unprecedented opportunity to make you known to those without hope in Christ!

Thank you for your promise that surely, you will be with us "always, even to the very end of the age”  so that we can carry on with the mission you have given us for our world (Matthew 28:20).

Join in Online Prayers:

World Prayer Centre, Birmingham, UK – Virtual House of Prayer

iHop Kansas Prayer Room

247 Prayer Coronavirus Prayer Room 

Additional Prayer Resources for Coronavirus

A coronavirus prayer from Pete Greig

19 Things to Do in response to Coronavirus

Prophecy Today UK’s Responses to Coronavirus

PrayerCast Video and Prayer Briefing
CSM Nigeria Article
Lausanne Resources
Operation World EBook on the impact on Mission

WW11 Veteran Gets 180k Praying

Reporting from John Hopkins University: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

Further data on Europe and the world: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases

‘As soon as the outbreak of the virus was announced, we stopped all our face-to-face meetings,’ says a secret Iranian believer. ‘In this time of crisis, we have had more than ten hours of prayer meetings every day. We created a special prayer schedule that we call “Frontline”, where prayer members can virtually walk in and out to come to pray together.’ Open Doors partners gave them online resources. But their situation is dire. Inflation is so high that people cannot afford to buy meat, poultry, or fruit. In these dark times for the country, the underground church is shining brightly. They share their food and sanitary items with their communities. Church members feel blessed to be able to do this work: ‘The distribution was a fabulous and unbelievable experience. People were astonished when we gave them the food - praising God with thanksgiving psalms, crying, hugging, and shouting.’

As a statue in Lisbon is ‘jokingly’ and ‘inappropriately’ fitted with a face mask, new restrictions have been imposed on the city following a spike in coronavirus cases. Portugal has gone from a European ‘miracle’ to a partial outcast in a matter of weeks, amid a series of setbacks to the country's reopening plans. The capital, Lisbon, and the surrounding metropolitan area woke up on 23 June to increased restrictions and more power for police to enforce them, following a series of illegal parties with as many as 1,000 revelers in recent days. Prime minister Costa imposed new controls just days after celebrating his government's Champions League final phase coup.

From Morocco to Iraq there are various forms of lockdowns, strains on hospitals, food shortages, even martial law. These strains put more pressure on already-stressed communities. The potential spread of the disease among refugees and displaced populations could be catastrophic. Many are persecuted believers with no financial safety net and poor medical infrastructures. For war-torn Syria, the pandemic has taken the situation from bad to worse. ‘We are free from the armed militia in Aleppo, but prices here are soaring’, said Kareem, ‘We have all signed up to receive bread from the government, and the needs are overwhelming.’ In Turkey, many are Iranian converts from Islam who fled Iran after being imprisoned or tortured for their faith. Turkish locals now blame them for the spread of coronavirus. The government has cut off all assistance, and many Christians have lost their employment. The Bible advises to go to the Lord with trials and problems; this virus is a serious problem.

The WHO has sent out a fresh warning over the dangers of the new coronavirus, even as France staged an annual music festival and sent millions of children back to school. New outbreaks highlight the difficulties of fully eradicating the virus, even in role-model countries. Brazil confirmed over 39,000 new cases, with over 50,000 deaths altogether. The mayor of Mexico City cancelled plans to reopen businesses this week as the alert level remained at red. India and Pakistan have surges in infections and deaths; their healthcare systems are under strain. Iran fears a second wave of infections, with deaths having risen to 100 daily. Israel has a surge in cases, while Australia is sending 1,000 army personnel to assist with a spike in infections in Victoria. South Africa and Egypt have the largest African outbreaks, but testing is sparse in the continent - distorting how far the virus may have spread.

Nurses who have lived away from home since the early days of the pandemic to avoid the risk of infecting their families were interviewed recently. One says she fears that cases will begin to rise because members of the public, unlike medical staff, seem too eager to ‘move on’. Another said that her friend was admitted to her ward and it shocked her to see her friend fighting for breath and so ill. Thankfully she is now improving but the nurse said, ‘We are still admitting patients on to the Covid ward and I don't see much sign of it stopping. Some people tell us they have not been social distancing - they have been with relatives, or to other houses. I definitely think it is going to get worse before it gets better, because people just think that it is over.’ Pray for God to strengthen and comfort our frontline workers.

Many of England's pupils are set to miss six months of lessons. There is a call for the Government to organise a task force to prevent the potential inequality around children's education. Pray for practical, workable plans to ensure that children can continue to reach their full potential. English schools and colleges must submit their estimated grades for GCSE and A-levels by 12 June. Pupils will be ranked from highest to lowest in achievement. Exam regulators have issued guidance on how to make the process as fair and accurate as possible. Many pupils are nervous about their estimated grades. Pray for those unsure of achieving the grade 4 or above needed in maths and English. May peace replace panic. Plans for all primary children to return before the summer have been dropped. The education secretary said there was a cautious, phased return to school: ‘if schools had the capacity, they could take more pupils if they chose.’

Thousands of Dutch minks became infected with coronavirus and were culled. Researchers are now urging other countries such as Denmark and Spain to test their animals, after infected minks passed the virus on to several mink farmers. The Dutch government says the culling is to prevent farms from becoming long-term reservoirs of Coronavirus. The animals were first infected by their handlers in April. In May, the government identified two cases in which humans had been infected by sick animals - the only animal-to-human transmissions known since the global outbreak began in China. The Humane Society is calling for the 24 countries still allowing mink farming to evaluate evidence from the Netherlands.

The Tory MP for Loughborough asked Mr Johnson during PMQ: ‘Local church leaders have contacted me about access to churches for services, to help tackle loneliness. Please could I ask that religious faiths be allowed to let people into their places of worship, observing social distancing within their premises, and that wedding venues be allowed access for bookings?’ The Prime Minister said he understood the urgency many people feel about the need to reopen places of worship, but highlighted the risks it could cause to the public if done prematurely. ‘We are not there yet. It is vital that the people of this country understand the continued need to push down on the infection rate.’

The Covid-19 pandemic will increase the number of deprived people, and make it harder for those who are already struggling. Often they cannot afford to pay rent or utility bills, keep homes warm enough, eat good quality food, run a car, own a washing machine or TV, or pay for a telephone. In 2019, 5.6% of the EU’s population - 24 million people - found themselves in this situation. The risk of increased poverty is especially high for young people, those with low levels of education, and single-parent families, especially those headed by women. The highest levels of severe deprivation in the EU last year were in Bulgaria (19.9%), Greece (15.9%) and Romania (12.6%). Portugal also has over 2 million people in poverty or social exclusion, and unemployment is set to double in 2020.