China pays tribute to Covid-19 victims with 3 minutes of silence, air raid sirens & car horns

China has held a nationwide day of mourning for those who lost their lives to coronavirus, with the country observing three minutes of silence – and some cities opting for a much louder way of paying their respects.

The Chinese flag was at half-mast across the country on Saturday as citizens paid silent tribute to more than 3,300 people in the mainland who died from coronavirus. At least 13 infected doctors and nurses were reported to have died while fighting on the frontline against the virus.

Not all the commemorations were quiet, however. RT’s video agency Ruptly published footage from Beijing and Wuhan, where locals took a different approach to mark the solemn occasion. In the nation’s capital, residents honked their car horns as air raid sirens wailed.

In a video from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus where 2,567 residents died, air sirens can be heard as the city comes to a halt. Car horns also joined in the salute while driving down the megalopolis’ mostly empty streets.

The tribute coincided with the start of the annual Qingming tomb-sweeping festival, in which Chinese families pay their respects to their ancestors.

China has managed to halt the spread of the illness inside the country, although it continues to struggle with cases imported from abroad. Infections worldwide have now passed one million, and nearly 60,000 people have already died because of the virus.