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DPA
Beijing
China held three minutes of silence for people who have died in the coronavirus outbreak during the country’s traditional Qingming festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day on Saturday.
President Xi Jinping was joined by other leading officials at the Zhongnanhai compound in central Beijing, the seat of China’s political power, to observe the commemoration.
The political leaders wore white flowers pinned to their chests and paid a silent tribute in front of a national flag flying at half-mast, the Xinhua state news agency reported.
National flags across China and at Chinese embassies and consulates abroad were also lowered to half-mast, and public entertainment activities halted.
The only noise heard during the three-minute mourning was the sound of cars, ships and trains blaring their horns in the background.
The event was intended to honour “martyrs and dead compatriots killed in the fight against the new coronavirus epidemic,” the State Council said on Friday.
Tomb Sweeping Day is an annual Chinese holiday during which families gather to honour their ancestors and clean their tombs.
However, with restrictions in place to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading, this year many provinces asked residents not to make the pilgrimage to the graves but instead to honour the dead from home.
In Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, all public commemoration events were prohibited. Cemeteries organized collective rites for the dead.
Platforms have also been set up on the internet in which offerings can be given virtually.
The Hong Kong government encouraged people to create digital tributes to deceased relatives on a special website instead of visiting graves.
Also in Hong Kong, a police officer who carried out dispersal operations at an anti-government protest on Tuesday has tested positive for Covid-19.
Police said the 46-year-old officer wore a mask and did not make any arrests during the protest.
Meanwhile a 93-year-old man who tested positive is believed to be Hong Kong’s first case of hospital transmission of the virus, which has infected 863 in the city.
Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-Yeung told a press conference that the elderly patient, who had a stroke on March 10, was treated near a 33-year-old man, who initially tested negative before later testing positive for Covid-19.
The ward at Pok Oi Public Hospital has been temporarily shut down and all relevant staff are being tested for the virus.
So far, China has counted over 80,000 coronavirus cases. The death toll reached 3,326 on Saturday, according to official figures. Over 76,000 patients have so far recovered.
Officials said more than 3,000 medical personnel had become infected with the novel coronavirus, of whom 14 have died.
Cases worldwide have topped 1 million, and deaths have exceeded 50,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
Beijing
China held three minutes of silence for people who have died in the coronavirus outbreak during the country’s traditional Qingming festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day on Saturday.
President Xi Jinping was joined by other leading officials at the Zhongnanhai compound in central Beijing, the seat of China’s political power, to observe the commemoration.
The political leaders wore white flowers pinned to their chests and paid a silent tribute in front of a national flag flying at half-mast, the Xinhua state news agency reported.
National flags across China and at Chinese embassies and consulates abroad were also lowered to half-mast, and public entertainment activities halted.
The only noise heard during the three-minute mourning was the sound of cars, ships and trains blaring their horns in the background.
The event was intended to honour “martyrs and dead compatriots killed in the fight against the new coronavirus epidemic,” the State Council said on Friday.
Tomb Sweeping Day is an annual Chinese holiday during which families gather to honour their ancestors and clean their tombs.
However, with restrictions in place to prevent the new coronavirus from spreading, this year many provinces asked residents not to make the pilgrimage to the graves but instead to honour the dead from home.
In Wuhan in Hubei province, the epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, all public commemoration events were prohibited. Cemeteries organized collective rites for the dead.
Platforms have also been set up on the internet in which offerings can be given virtually.
The Hong Kong government encouraged people to create digital tributes to deceased relatives on a special website instead of visiting graves.
Also in Hong Kong, a police officer who carried out dispersal operations at an anti-government protest on Tuesday has tested positive for Covid-19.
Police said the 46-year-old officer wore a mask and did not make any arrests during the protest.
Meanwhile a 93-year-old man who tested positive is believed to be Hong Kong’s first case of hospital transmission of the virus, which has infected 863 in the city.
Microbiologist Yuen Kwok-Yeung told a press conference that the elderly patient, who had a stroke on March 10, was treated near a 33-year-old man, who initially tested negative before later testing positive for Covid-19.
The ward at Pok Oi Public Hospital has been temporarily shut down and all relevant staff are being tested for the virus.
So far, China has counted over 80,000 coronavirus cases. The death toll reached 3,326 on Saturday, according to official figures. Over 76,000 patients have so far recovered.
Officials said more than 3,000 medical personnel had become infected with the novel coronavirus, of whom 14 have died.
Cases worldwide have topped 1 million, and deaths have exceeded 50,000, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
