据国务院介绍，全国哀悼日将在今年清明节周六举行，以纪念那些死于COVID-19的人。

为向在抗击新型冠状病毒病中牺牲的烈士和因病死亡的同胞表示深切哀悼，当天全国和中国使馆将降半旗。国务院周五表示，全国范围内的公共娱乐活动将暂停。

从上午10点开始，全国人民将默哀3分钟。汽车、火车和轮船的汽笛将鸣响。它说，防空警报也会响起。

湖北省政府14日宣布，14名在抗击禽流感前线牺牲的群众被授予烈士称号。

12名一线医务人员、1名警察和1名社区官员组成了烈士队伍，这是全国为国家和社会英勇献身者的最高荣誉称号。

全国哀悼期在这个国家并不常见。新千年以来，只有少数这样的悼念活动举行过，其中包括2008年四川汶川地震，造成6.9万多人丧生，另有1.8万人失踪。

据国家卫生委员会统计，截至周四晚些时候，中国大陆已有3322人死亡。

national time of mourning will be held to honor martyrs

A national period of mourning will be held on Saturday, this year's Tomb Sweeping Day, to commemorate those who succumbed to COVID-19, according to the State Council.

To express profound condolences to martyrs who sacrificed their lives in fighting the novel coronavirus disease and compatriots who died of the pathogen, national flags will be lowered to half-mast across the country and at Chinese embassies on that day. Public recreational activities will be suspended nationwide, the State Council said on Friday.

Starting at 10 am, people across the country will observe three minutes of silence. Sirens of automobiles, trains and ships will sound. Air defense warnings will also go off, it said.

In Hubei province, 14 people who lost their lives in front-line combat against the virus have been honored as martyrs, the provincial government announced on Thursday.

Twelve front-line medical workers infected at their posts, a police officer and a community official comprise the group of martyrs, the highest honorary title in the country for those who bravely sacrifice their lives for the nation and society.

A national mourning period is not often seen in the country. Only a few such mourning activities have been held since the turn of the new millennium, including one for the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan province, which claimed over 69,000 lives and left another 18,000 missing.

The epidemic has killed 3,322 people on the Chinese mainland as of late Thursday, according to the National Health Commission.