China announces that it is holding a National Day of Mourning to honor those that lost their lives as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. As part of this, all public entertainment, includingonline gaming, is being shut down for the day, with players reporting they can’t login to any online game.
Beyond this, even gaming websites have been updated with black and white themes in remembrance. Everything is set to resume at midnight, at which point things should return to normal for the Chinese public. Naturally, theCoronavirusrelated mandate has been met by mixed responses online.
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Many have criticized the Chinese government for being too involved and forcing one type of mourning onto the entire country, but others find this to be a respectful and conscientious decision. One question that many have regarding this information is why today was chosen despite the fact that theCoronavirus pandemic is still at large, this is because today is also China’s Tomb Sweeping Festival, which is already dedicated to remembering the dead.
Alongside the mandated entertainment shutdown, China held a three minute silence this morning at 10 AM China Standard Time. The last timeChina held a National Day of Mourningwas in response to the Gansu Mudslide in 2010, during which similar precautions were taken such as the suspension of public entertainment and removal of color from web pages.
AlthoughChina is now ranked #6 regarding cases of Coronavirus, sitting at around 82,500 reported cases at the time of writing (that’s more than three times less the number of reported cases in the US), there are some concerns that this number may not be entirely accurate. For one, there will always be more actual cases than there are reported cases simply because not every case can be detected. Furthermore, there is some speculation among skeptics that China may not actually be reporting the full extent of cases in the country.
Whether this National Day of Mourning is viewed as a respectful moment of solidarity for those affected or as an overstep on the part of the Chinese government, the effect of the Coronavirus in certain parts of the world can not be overstated, and it is vital that everyone does their part to flatten the curve, practicing social distancing and avoiding unnecessary contact with others. Of course, these restrictions should not affect anyone outside of China unless they are usingChinese systems or websites.
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