Flags will be flown at half-mast in cities across Italy at midday on March 31 to commemorate the victims of coronavirus, the president of municipalities' association ANCI Antonio Decaro announced Friday on Twitter.

"On Tuesday, March 31, at 12 pm, flags at half-staff and a minute of silence to be observed by Italian mayors with the tricolor sash in front of their city hall", Decaro tweeted. "We join the president of the Province of Bergamo as a sign of mourning for the many victims of the epidemic", he added, referring to Gianfranco Gafforelli who launched the initiative.