Vatican Closes St. Peter’s Square To Tour Groups

Yahoo News reports:

St. Peter’s Square and St. Peter’s Basilica have been closed to tourists and guided groups because of coronavirus but individual members of the faithful can enter the basilica to pray, the Vatican said on Tuesday.  A statement said the Vatican would also be closing its post office in the square, which draws many tourists, as well as its bookstore and photo service. A cafeteria inside the Vatican for employees would also close. All measures will remain in effect until April. 3.

Completely empty St Peter’s Square at 1:40 today Rome time (my ?)#coronavirus #COVIDー19 #Covid_19 #Vatican #pope #popefrancis #italy

The Vatican has just announced: St Peter’s Basilica closed through April 3rd @zenitenglish #Vaticano #italia pic.twitter.com/T3PxEfs4n0

— Deborah Castellano Lubov (@DeborahLubov) March 10, 2020

Vatican City has reported its first case of COVID-19 https://t.co/pjkVc2BZDD

— CNN International (@cnni) March 6, 2020

Der Vatikan hat wegen des #Coronavirus-Ausbruchs den Petersplatz und den Petersdom für die Öffentlichkeit gesperrt. https://t.co/TUFyE5Pjrg

— DER SPIEGEL (@derspiegel) March 10, 2020