Today at 12 noon Italy stops to pay tribute to all the victims of the Coronavirus, as a sign of proximity to family members and national participation in the condolences of the communities most affected by the pandemic.
The initiative, started by the Italian mayors, has expanded to other institutions: the Italian flag at half mast will be displayed on all public buildings. The first citizens of the Peninsula, in fact, wearing the tricolor band, will be in front of their town halls in silence and with the flags displayed at half-mast "as a sign of mourning" and in "a sign of solidarity with all the communities that are paying the higher price. "
# 31marzo The Italian flag flying in our neighborhoods and in our cities in recent weeks is now half-mast, as a sign of mourning for the victims of the #coronavirus.
The #protectionecivil system participates and tightens around the pain of the entire community. pic.twitter.com/w3jVU7LZmE
Among the first to put the flags to mourning was the Quirinale : on the balcony of the square they were sent down by the cuirassiers at half mast.
The Vatican also participates: the Holy See announces that it will display flags at half-mast, in mourning, to express its closeness to the victims of the pandemic in Italy and in the world, to their families and to those who generously struggle to end it.
Today the Italian flags in all public offices are displayed at half-mast as a sign of mourning and closeness to the families of the victims of the #coronavirus and as a sign of collective participation in the condolences of the communities most affected pic.twitter.com/EazqXrPYJj
- Palazzo_Chigi (@Palazzo_Chigi) March 31, 2020To remember the many deaths of this silent war that could not even have had a worthy funeral and if they went without the comfort of affections, the mayors organized this remote ceremony that will not break the harsh rules of social distancing. The first was proposed by the president of the Province of Bergamo and mayor of Calcinate, Gianfranco Gafforelli , who is in one of the areas where there are the most deaths. The president of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) Antonio De Caro has made the proposal his own and has sent a letter to all the mayors to ask for the initiative to be shared. "We all have in our eyes - wrote Decaro - the images of the tragedy that is hitting so many cities in the North and that is putting a strain on all the communities we administer. As always happens in major emergencies, we Mayors, who are the representatives Institutions closer to citizens, we become recipients and custodians of their legitimate concerns and understandable anxieties. In short, we are the first line, subjected as we are to the strong pressure of the responsibility load of an entire community ". "A pressure that - points out Decaro to his fellow mayors - must not crush us. The discouragement, which even many of us feel, cannot prevail, indeed we must react with greater strength and determination to transmit trust and hope". And just "to remember the many victims of this dramatic epidemic, to honor the sacrifice and commitment of health workers, to embrace each other ideally, to be supportive of each other, as we Mayors know how to do, I ask you to share "this gesture. Accession immediately arrived from the Union of Italian Provinces (UPI), from Ali-Autonomie Locale Italiane and from the many mayors in the trenches.
