China observes ‘national day of mourning’ for Covid-19 victims

The national flag flew at half-mast, people were urged to maintain three-minutes of silence at 10 in the morning and all forms of entertainment were suspended for 24 hours to mark the day.

China lost 95 police officers and 46 medical workers in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, state media reported as the country observed Saturday as a national day of mourning in memory of the thousands of victims of the outbreak,

A man wearing a mask to protect against the coronavirus walk along the banks of the Yangtze River in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province on Saturday, April 4, 2020. (AP photo)

The national flag flew at half-mast, people were urged to maintain three-minutes of silence at 10 in the morning and all forms of entertainment were suspended for 24 hours to mark the day.

President Xi Jinping, dressed in black, led the top Chinese leadership in observing three minutes of silence at the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing

The leaders had white flowers pinned to their chest and paid a silent tribute in front of a national flag, flying at half-mast.

As the moment of silence was observed by the public across the country, air raid sirens blared; cars, trains, and ships sounded horns.

In the first epicentre of the pandemic, Wuhan, traffic lights in urban areas turned red at 10 am and all vehicular traffic stopped for three minutes.

In commemoration of “the martyrs and deceased compatriots”, national flags flew at half-mast across the country and in all Chinese embassies and consulates abroad, and public recreational activities were suspended nationwide Saturday, official news agency, Xinhua reported.

As many as 3326 people have died and 81639 have been infected by Covid-19 in China, according to statistics released by China’s national health commission (NHC).

The new virus first emerged in Wuhan in December before rapidly spreading within China and then globally.

The NHC said Saturday it received reports of 19 new confirmed Covid-19 cases on the Chinese mainland on Friday, of which 18 were imported.

Also on Friday, four deaths, all in Hubei province, and 11 new suspected cases, all imported ones, were reported on the mainland.

As of Friday, the mainland had reported a total of 888 imported cases, the NHC added.

Quoting China’s ministry of public security, official media on Saturday said that 95 Chinese police officers and 46 medical workers had died in the fight against the outbreak in the country.

More than 3000 health workers including doctors and nurses had been infected with the disease while treating patients.