Pope Francis has cancelled his regular appearances in public to avoid crowds gathering to see him and will stream them on the internet from inside the Vatican because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

The Vatican said that on Sunday the pontiff will not address crowds from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square, and will also not hold his general audience from there this Wednesday.

Both will be held without general public participation from inside the official papal library in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace and will be viewable on the Internet or television, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.

The participation of the faithful at the pope’s morning Mass in his residence has been suspended until March 15.

The 83-year-old pope cancelled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy, but the Vatican has said he is suffering only from a cold that is “without symptoms related to other pathologies”.

Tens of thousands of people gather in the square every Sunday and thousands of others attend his weekly general audience, which is held either outdoors in the square or in a large audience hall inside the Vatican, depending on the weather.

Italy toll climbs to 197

The death toll in Italy, the worst-hit European country, stood at 197 on Friday, with more than 4,600 cases of the illness. The north of the country has been the most heavily hit. In Rome province, 49 people have tested positive for coronavirus and one has died.

The death toll from an outbreak of coronavirus in Italy has risen by 49 to 197, the Civil Protection Agency said on Friday, the largest daily increase in fatalities since the contagion was uncovered two weeks ago.

Italy is currently reporting more deaths from the virus than any other country in the world and the government this week ordered the closure of schools, universities, cinemas and theatres around the country to try to stem the infections.

The cumulative number of cases in the country, which has been the hardest hit in Europe by the epidemic, totalled 4,636 compared with 3,858 on Thursday.

The Vatican, an independent state that sits in the heart of Rome, also registered its first case on Friday.