In a livestreamed Mass, Pope Francis on Tuesday urged Catholic priests to summon the courage to visit people sickened by the coronavirus amid Italy’s national lockdown due to the deadly illness.

“Let us pray to the Lord also for our priests, that they may have the courage to go out and go to the sick people bringing the strength of God’s word and the Eucharist and accompany the health workers and volunteers in this work that they are doing,” said the pontiff, who was alone at the Casa Santa Marta chapel in Vatican City.

Meanwhile, St. Peter’s Square was almost empty Tuesday with only a few dozen people strolling around, most of them without masks.

The Italian government on Monday extended restrictions on movement from the hard-hit northern regions to the rest of the country — affecting all 60 million inhabitants.

The restrictions, which involved checkpoints on roads and at railroad stations, are set to remain in place until April 3 in efforts to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has claimed over 460 lives in the country.

More than 9,000 people have been diagnosed with the illness in Italy as of Tuesday.

The Vatican, a walled city-state in the heart of Rome, is respecting the lockdown and has imposed restrictions on movement and contact among personnel.

One person inside Vatican City has tested positive for the virus and five people who came into contact with that individual are under precautionary quarantine.

With Post wires