China mourns thousands who died from coronavirus in the country

China on Saturdaymourned the thousands of people who have died from coronavirus, terming them "martyrs".

The day of mourning coincidedwith the start of the annual Qingming tomb-sweeping festival, when millions of Chinese families pay respects to their ancestors.

China flew the national flag at half mast throughout the country and suspending all forms of entertainment. At 10 am (0200 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 will sound their horns and air raid sirens will wail.

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Coronavirus broke out in the wet city of Wuhan in December last year. More than 3,300 people in mainland China have died since then. Some 2,567 people have died in the city of 11 million people, accounting for more than 75 per cent of the country's coronavirus fatalities.

In Wuhan, all traffic lights in urban areas wereturned red at 10 am and all road traffic will cease for three minutes.

As of Friday, the total number of nationally confirmed cases stood at 81,639, including 19 new infections, the National Health Commission said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) termed the coronavirus outbreak as pandemic on March 11.