The world's Orthodox Christians are celebrating Easter - the most important festival in their calendar, amid a series of restrictions and bans.

Axar.az reports that, officials in Europe, the Middle East and Africa urged people not to attend services, fearing this would lead to a spike in coronavirus infections.

However, in Georgia, worshippers are still able to attend churches.

The traditional Holy Fire ceremony went ahead in a near-deserted Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The church was closed last month and only a handful of Orthodox clergy, some of them wearing black masks, were allowed in for the ceremony on Saturday.

A candle is traditionally lit with the Holy Fire in the crypt of the Holy Sepulchre by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, to symbolise the resurrection of Jesus.