Pope Francis is to livestream his Sunday blessing from inside the Vatican in a bid to prevent large crowds gathering in St Peter's Square amid the coronavirus outbreak. 

The Pope traditionally delivers the Angelus prayer at noon from a window looking out over St Peter's Square.  It will instead be livestreamed from the library of the Apostolic Palace and not from the window. 

The decision to switch to a livestream follows the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Vatican City. 

The Pope's general audience on Wednesday will also be livestreamed, while the Eucharist is to celebrated by the Pope privately. 

"These decisions are necessary in order to avoid the risk of the spread of COVID-19 due to the gathering of people during security controls for access to the square, as requested by the Italian authorities," the Vatican said. 

The Pope has been unwell in the past week with a cold but a test for coronavirus came back negative. 

Last month, he spoke of his "closeness" to all those affected by the outbreak. 

"I wish, again, to express my closeness to those who are ill with coronavirus and to health-care workers who are caring for them," he said. 

Italy has so far been the country worst hit in Europe by the coronavirus, with 4,636 cases and 197 deaths as of Friday evening. 

Nicola Zingaretti, president of Italy's Lazio region and secretary of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said on Saturday that he had tested positive for Covid-19. 

"I am fine but I will have to stay home for the next few days", he said in a Facebook post.