By J. Jala | 05:48 PM March 20, 2020
The Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil was lit up with flags and messages of hope on Wednesday in solidarity with countries affected by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The statue, which overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro, was lit up with the flags of countries that have reported cases of the virus.
The message #praytogether was also projected onto the statue in different languages.
Rio de Janeiro’s archbishop Orani João Tempesta held mass at the landmark and the church urged people to pray for the sick all over the world.
The total number of cases now stands at 201,436 as of 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, according to data compiled by John Hopkins.
The virus emerged in Wuhan, China in December. It has since spread to most countries around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
