China has held a national day of mourning in honour of those who died from the coronavirus pandemic that killed at least 3,335 people in the mainland, including 13 medical workers who died after contracting the disease while treating their patients.
The air-raid siren cracked across cities all over the country for three minutes on Saturday starting at 10am (02:00 GMT) to signal the start of the commemoration. All cars, trains and ships stopped, while blaring their horns. All entertainment activities were halted for the entire day.
The day of mourning coincided with the country's Tomb-Sweeping Festival, also known as Qingming, during which Chinese families would traditionally visit the graves of their deceased relatives, burn some "spirit money," and sweep the tombs as a sign of respect.
"When the sirens went off, it's almost impossible not to weep or imagine all the hearts broken and lives lost over this epidemic."
Luo Qiang said he changed his Weibo avatar to black and white, like many others on the social media platform, to pay respect to those whose lives were claimed by the virus.
It is expected that the lockdown in Wuhan will be lifted in four days.
'A day of despair'
In the capital, Beijing, the Chinese national flag was flown at half-mast in the middle of Tiananmen Square as the sound of a siren wailed in grief across the city.
In Chengdu, one of the most important commercial centres in western China, non-stop rain beginning the previous night left a gloomy atmosphere in the city, as cars stopped at intersections while honking in-sync with the sirens.
For those who have lost their loved ones in the outbreak, Saturday marked a day of despair, as many collected the ashes of their deceased family members. Xiao Xin collected the ashes of her mother from Wuhan's Hankou funeral home six days ago, and the urn is still sitting at the room where her mother used to live.
But with the government ban on large gatherings still in place in cities such as Wuhan, grieving families are still unable to bury their loved ones, let alone hold a proper funeral.
"I can't count how many times I have cried, and I thought I had dried all my tears," Xiao Xin, not her real name, told Media
In one of the most well-known poems written about Qingming, Chinese poet Du Mu wrote, "A drizzling rain falls like tears on Mourning Day, travellers' hearts lost in dismay."
Many in China say that almost every year, the annual rite happens under gloomy or rainy skies, and this year the spectre of the deadly coronavirus disease has added another layer of unbearable "dismay".
In Wuhan, the epicentre of the disease that started in late December, traffic lights turned red for three minutes, while a remembrance ceremony was held at a park by the Yangtze River. Images from the event showed people bowing their heads and closing their eyes while standing as sirens sounded.
"For us humans, we need this kind of ritual - to have a closure, or to have these memories engraved in our hearts," Luo Qiang, a Wuhan resident, said.China on Saturday observed a national day of mourning for the thousands of "martyrs" who have died in the new coronavirus outbreak, flying the national flag at half mast throughout the country and suspending all forms of entertainment.
The country, where the virus first appeared in late December, has officially recorded over 3,300 deaths in the pandemic, which has killed over 58,900 worldwide. On Saturday, the global total of infections passed 1.1 million, according to Johns Hopkins University, with over 226,800 having recovered from the disease caused by the virus, COVID-19.
As China's reported deaths have dropped off significantly in recent weeks, the death toll in Europe has surged to about 40,000, while in the United States the number of deaths hit more than 7,000, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The number of cases also continues to rise, with the US reporting more 275,000 infections, while Italy, Spain and Germany combined recorded more than 300,000 cases.
Meanwhile, the World Bank Group President David Malpass on Friday said the health emergency was expected to cause a "major global recession" that would likely hit the poorest and most vulnerable countries the hardest, while the International Monetary Fund described the situation as a "crisis like no other".China declared Saturday a day of mourning for the thousands of "martyrs" who have died in the new coronavirus outbreak, flying the national flag at half mast throughout the country and suspending all forms of entertainment.
The day of mourning coincided with the start of the annual Qingming tomb-sweeping festival, when millions of Chinese families pay respects to their ancestors.
At 10am (02:00 GMT) Beijing time, the country observed three minutes of silence to mourn those who died, including frontline medical workers and doctors. Cars, trains and ships sounded their horns and air raid sirens wailed.
China has officially reported more than 3,300 deaths from the coronavirus.Mainland China reported on Saturday at least 19 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, down from 31 a day earlier, including one new infection in central Hubei province, the epicentre of the outbreak in the country.
Of the new cases, 18 involved travellers arriving from abroad, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The new infections bring the total number of confirmed cases in mainland China to 81,639 as of Friday. China also reported four new deaths, raising the death toll to 3,326 as of Friday.
Tags:
Health