BEIJING China on Saturdaymournedthethousands 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 ofmourning coincided withthe start of the annualQingmingtomb-sweeping festival,when millions of Chinese families pay respects to their ancestors. At 10am (0200 GMT) Beijing time, the country observedthreeminutes of silencetomournthose who died, including frontline medical workers and doctors. Cars, trains and ships sounded their horns and air raid sirens wailed. In Zhongnanhai, the seat of political power in Beijing,PresidentXi Jinpingand otherChineseleaders paid silent tribute in front of the national flag, with white flowers pinnedtotheir chest as amark of mourning, state media reported. Morethan 3,300 peopleinmainlandChina have diedinthe epidemic,which first surfacedinthe central province of Hubei late last year, according to statistics published bytheNationalHealthCommis sion. In Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and the epicentre of the outbreak, all traffic lights in urban areas turned red at 10 a.m. and all road traffic ceased for three minutes. Some 2,567 people have died in the city of 11 million people, accounting for more than 75% of the country’s coronavirus fatalities. Amongthose who perished was LiWenliang, a young doctor reprimanded by police in Wuhan for “spreading rumours”when hetriedto raisethealarm about the disease. Sincethen,the virus has spreadto all corners of the globe, sickeningmorethanamillion, killing over 55,000 people and paralysing the world economy. The overall number ofconfirmedcases reported in the United States now exceeds China’s official tally by threefold. “Li Wenliang was a hero, he found out about it early…nowit’stoolate, but now our countryis stronger than others,” said Gan Weineng, 78, a Wuhan resident. Wuhan also banned all tomb-sweeping activitiesinits cemeteries until atleastApril 30, curtailing one of the most important dates in the traditional Chineselunar new year calendar which usually sees millions of families travel to tend to their ancestral graves, offer flowers and burn incense. Theyhavealsotold residents,most stuckathome due to lockdown restrictions, to use online streaming services which will allow them to watch cemetery staff carrying out those tasks live. Some resident burned joss paper, a tradition which they believe sends money and wealth to deceased relatives, on sidewalks and within the confines of their barricaded housing compounds. Online, celebrities including X-Men: Days of Future Past star Fan Bingbing swapped their glamorous social media profile pictures for sombre photos in grey or black, garnering millions of “likes” from fans. Chinese gaming and social media giant Tencent suspended all online games on Saturday. AsofFriday,thetotal number ofconfirmedcases acrossthe country stood at 81,639,including 19 new infections, the National Health Commission said. Eighteen of the new cases involved travellers arriving from abroad.The remaining one newinfection was a local case in Wuhan, a patient who was previously asymptomatic. Asymptomatic people exhibit few signs of infection suchas fevers orcoughs,andare notincluded in the tally of confirmed cases by Chinese authorities until they do.—INP
