In today's bit of Buddhist trivia

I found this in a International Committee of the Red Cross paper, about how Buddhists cope with COVID-19 (my bold):

Very early in the history of Buddhism, short verses were recommended by the Buddha to provide protection from certain afflictions, and these formal paritta (pirit in Sri Lanka) recitations of sacred texts are still regarded as having the power to heal, protect and ward off danger.

All-night paritta recitations by monks are deemed particularly effective, and the Sri Lankan Mahavamsa contains the earliest historical reference to this practice, describing how Upatissa I of Anuradhapura instructed monks to recite the Ratana Sutta through the night when Sri Lanka was afflicted by plague and disease.  This practice continues in Theravada Buddhist contexts, and during the Covid-19 crisis senior Buddhist monks in Myanmar also performed mid-air recitations of parittas on a special aircraft flying above the country to ward off the outbreak.

Now, I'm not at all against the principle of praying per se, but this apparent idea that flying above the country while praying sets up something like a protective force field against disease seems a slightly funny (and slightly delightful) amalgam of science and the supernatural to me.  All a bit Dr Strange, perhaps.