Pope Francis asks faithful to pray for Italy

Pope Francis issued a video message on Thursday asking Roman Catholic faithful to pray for Italy as the country grapples with an ongoing surge in cases of the new coronavirus.

The pontiff also used his address, which he made on the day of St Joseph, to call on worshippers to have a "bigger heart" during the crisis.

Francis' message from the Vatican was aired at 2000GMT, the same time he encouraged faithful across the world to take part in a rosary prayer.

His message was made on the same day Italy's death toll from the virus surpassed China's by registering a total of 3,405 dead.

Italy reached the milestone on the same day the epicenter of the pandemic, Wuhan, China, recorded no new infections.

Overall, Italy has recorded 41,035 infections, a little more than half of China's positive cases.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.