Fred The Godson has asked fans to pray for him after revealing he is being treated for coronavirus in hospital.

The US rapper, real name Fredrick Thomas, shared a selfie in which he wore an oxygen mask and raised his hand in a fist.

He told his 68,000 Twitter followers: “I’m in here wit this Covid-19 shit! Please keep me in y’all prayers!!!!” before adding the hashtag #GodIsGreat.

Thomas, from the Bronx, New York, won best male rapper at the 2007 Underground Music Awards, and has worked alongside artists including Mac Miller, Kendrick Lamar and Pusha T.

In New York City, the US epicentre of the pandemic, daily confirmed deaths dropped slightly on Monday but New York governor Andrew Cuomo warned it was “too early to tell” the significance of the new numbers.