China mourns coronavirus victims with three-minute silence

China – where the deadly coronavirus originated – has mourned the victims of virus outbreak today (Saturday) by observing a nationwide three-minute silence, bringing the nation to a halt.

A day of remembrance was declared in China today (Saturday) to honour the martyrs, including the “whistleblower” Dr. Li Wenliang who sacrificed their lives in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

At 10:00 local time, people and traffic stood still nationwide for three minutes in memory of those killed by the virus. Cars, trains, and ships then sounded their horns, air raid sirens rang as flags were flown at half-mast.

According to the Chinese media, all public recreational activities were suspended across the country to observe the national day of mourning.  

The first cases of coronavirus were detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in Hubei province on December 31^st, 2019. According to Chinese official reports, 3,322 people had died of the coronavirus that affected a total of 81,620 people in China.

Since then, the deadly virus has swept the globe, infecting more than one million people and killing nearly 60,000 in 181 countries.

The country had held its last national day of mourning in May 2008 for the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, which killed more than 69,000 people.