COVID-19: China to honour ‘martyrs’ of virus fight

China will hold three minutes of silence across the country on Saturday to mourn the “martyrs” of the fight against the virus pandemic.

It’s scheduled to happen at 10am local time and the silence will be followed by air raid sirens and car horns “wailing in grief”, state news agency Xinhua says.

The coronavirus emerged in China and numbers peaked in January and February, with the current total death toll above 3,300. Among the dead have been many health care workers and doctors.

In recent weeks, local transmission and new fatalities have been very low. Authorities say they are more worried about travellers importing the virus from abroad than local transmissions.