With the coronavirus spreading around Europe, Christians are reflecting on what it means for going to church and being good neighbours. 

Simon Harvey, vicar of St Mary's and St Peter's, in Bury St Edmunds, said in a video update to his congregation that everyone should do their bit to be a good neighbour and look out for the vulnerable in their community.

He welcomed the "very sensible" guidance from Public Health England and the Church of England, saying that much of the hygiene advice covered things that churches and parishioners should already be doing, like washing hands and using tissues. 

At the same time, he encouraged Christians "to take this seriously but also to keep it in proportion". 

"Let's look out for vulnerable people - people in our community who may not have access to this information, who may be very worried," he said.

"It may be that we can just keep an eye on our neighbours. I think that's really important - not just on our church friends but on our neighbours in the community.

"Let's see if we can be salt and light in the world as Christians and keep an eye open for our neighbours, especially vulnerable people."

He added that the church may resort increasingly to the internet and social media in the coming weeks, depending on how the coronavirus outbreak develops in the UK. 

In the meantime, he encouraged parishioners to use the web and social media to stay connected with each other if they or others are confined indoors.

"Do your neighbours have your phone number in case they need help or just a chat?" he said.

"If a neighbour becomes ill and can't get out, then they might like a chat every day for five minutes on the phone.

"We can certainly use phones, Whatsapp, social media, Twitter, Facebook, the web and if necessary, we will do more of that as a church in the weeks ahead." 

With church services running as normal for the time-being, he said parishioners need not be embarrassed to say no to shaking someone's hand during the Peace. 

"There's quite a lot of social pressure to shake hands if someone smiles and holds their hand out to you," he said.

"We're social people and we want to be part of greeting each other but be bold.  If you do have a cough or a sneeze and you're not feeling great, then don't shake hands during the Peace and don't be embarrassed to say 'I won't be doing that today'.

"That will look after each other. That's just good neighbourliness, looking after each other as well as yourself." 

Hanna Hyun, a youth pastor in Daegu, the city at the centre of South Korea's coronavirus outbreak, said that the outbreak there has prompted many Christians "to wrestle in prayer for this country". 

With much of the city staying indoors, she has been encouraging others in her church by sending out inspirational text messages every day.

She added that now was not the time to blame others but to join together in prayer.

"I hope that God is going to cultivate our hearts throughout this time so that Christians may look inside our hearts and repent our sins thoroughly before God," she said.

"We can neither blame anybody, nor any country for the outbreak. However, we need to seek God's will." 

In Italy, where hundreds have been diagnosed in the last week, some churches cancelled Ash Wednesday services and there are concerns for Pope Francis, who has withdrawn from official audiences for a second day after being seen coughing during Ash Wednesday Mass. 

"The Holy Father celebrated Mass this morning and at the end, as usual, greeted the participants, but decided to postpone today's official audiences," the Director of the Holy See Press office, Matteo Bruni, said on Friday.

"The meetings on the agenda at Casa Santa Marta continue regularly." 

As alarm continues to grow, Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option, announced on Thursday that he had cancelled an upcoming trip to Europe over coronavirus. 

"I just cancelled a planned trip to Europe for a March 30 conference, over coronavirus fears. All might be well by then, but I don't feel like it's a risk worth taking," he tweeted.