ANKARA

China on Saturday observed three minutes of silence to remember the lives lost to coronavirus.

The country came to a standstill at 10 a.m. local time (0200GMT), while air raid sirens and horns of cars, trains and ships wailed in grief, according Xinhua News Agency.

President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Li Keqiang and other top officials gathered at Zhongnanhai, headquarters of State Council of the People's Republic of China, to attend a ceremony to pay tribute to the fallen frontline health workers in the fight against coronavirus.

The Chinese leaders pinned white flowers to their chest to mourn the victims.

The national flag is flying at half mast throughout the country and all Chinese missions abroad.

In all cities including Wuhan, where the virus first emerged last December, traffic lights turned red at 10 a.m. and pedestrians and traffic stopped for three minutes.

More than 3,300 people have died in mainland China from the virus and an upwards of 81,000 cases confirmed, according to official figures.

The virus has spread to 181 countries, killing more than 58,900 people worldwide, according to U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid