In a break from centuries-old tradition, Pope Francis' Angelus prayer has been live-streamed to avoid crowds in Saint Peter's Square as a precautionary measure to stop the spread of coronavirus, AP reports.

The Angelus prayers are normally delivered by the pontiff every Sunday from his window but the Vatican had promised to review the 83-year-old pontiff’s schedule “to avoid the dissemination” of the new COVID-19 disease after Vatican City reported its first COVID-19 case earlier this week.