Coronavirus: Pope Francis Cancels Official Engagements For Second Consecutive Day

Pope Francis will be working from home on Friday after he cancelled his official engagements for the second day in a row.

The Vatican announced that the Pope has postponed his official appointments for Friday and would be working from home.

The announcement is coming a day after Naija News reported that the head of the catholic faith also cancelled a scheduled appearance at mass on Thursday because of “a mild ailment”.

The 83-year-old pontiff rarely skips engagements in his ever-busy schedule but news of skipping engagements for two consecutive days has raised some concern from observers.

This is as Italy currently battles with one of the largest outbreak of the coronavirus in Europe, with some 650 cases and 17 deaths already reported.

However, there was no reference to the disease in the Vatican announcement.

Naija News recalls earlier in the week, the pope who appeared to be suffering from a cold was seen blowing his nose and coughing during the Ash Wednesday service, and his voice sounded unclear during the Ash Wednesday service at St Peter’s yesterday.

The pope is due to go on a spiritual retreat on Sunday with the entire Roman Curia — the Holy See’s administrative institutions — after presiding over the weekly Angelus prayer from a window overlooking Saint Peter’s Square.