China, the first epicentre of the global coronavirus pandemic will observe its national mourning day on Saturday, April 4 in honour of the “martyrs” who died in the fight against the disease according to media reports.

The country will hold three minutes of silence across the nation on Saturday to mourn the thousands of “martyrs” of the pandemic, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

China has identified fourteen frontline workers including doctor Li Wenliang who first warned the nation about the coronavirus as martyrs of the pandemic. Wenliang who was one of the first eight people who warned China about the novel coronavirus had died of the infection in February.

Air raid sirens and automobile horns, trains and ships will “wail in grief” post the three minutes of silence to be observed at 10 a.m. (0200 GMT) across the country, the report said.

However, top officials of Wuhan in Hubei province where the virus first originated have warned people to stay inside their homes and remain vigilant on mourning day, Reuters reported.

China has relatively bee able to curb the spread of the outbreak and “flatten the curve” as it reported 31 new cases on Friday, down from 35 reported a day prior. The country had imposed nationwide draconian restrictions for two months.

Top officials have advised citizens to remain cautious as they are concerned about the risk of a second wave of infections, the report said.

The first epicentre of the outbreak Wuhan is scheduled to allow people to travel outside the city borders on April 8 as volunteers in hazmat suits continue spraying public areas with disinfectants as a precaution, Reuters reported.

The total number of infections reported so far in mainland China excluding, asymptomatic patients who are under observation has surpassed 81,000, while the death toll is over 3300. Over 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide with at least 52,000 deaths.

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