Church leaders across Ireland have called on people to wear face coverings at all worship services to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church Of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Church urged worshippers to wear facemasks when attending services as well as maintaining a two metre physical distance from other church goers.

While the wearing of masks in churches has not been made mandatory by the governments north and south of the Border, church representatives said it had become increasingly clear that wearing face coverings, in conjunction with hand washing and other measures, could help reduce the spread of the virus and thus protect others.