Italians sing out from balconies during coronavirus lockdown

Italians blocked in their homes by the coronavirus outbreak joined together to sing patriotic songs from their balconies, a defiant response to a crisis that has pushed the country's health system to the limit and turned daily life on its head.

From Milan, near the northern epicentre of the crisis, to the capital Rome and Naples and Palermo in the south, social media showed people on their balconies or leaning from windows and singing the national anthem or popular songs over the past couple of days.

On Saturday at noon, many people across the country went onto their balconies to offer a round of applause to the doctors and nurses working on the frontlines of the crisis.

With the coronavirus pandemic spreading rapidly across the world, Italy is the worst affected country in Europe, with at least 17,660 cases and 1,266 deaths by Friday.

Italy's hardest hit area remains the prosperous northern region of Lombardy around the financial capital Milan, but the virus has spread across the country.

The government has imposed an unprecedented lockdown, closing schools and most shops, barring all but essential movement and telling people to remain in their homes.

Opera singer Laura Baldassari leans out of her window to sing during a flash mob launched throughout Italy to bring people together and try to cope with the emergency of coronavirus, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 13, 2020.

On social media, celebrities have urged people to stay at home and to wash their hands regularly.

Ordinary Italians have posted a flood of images showing life under lockdown, as well as jokes about the crisis and the difficulty of maintaining domestic harmony.

The government and leading public figures have also sought to reassure the public. Hashtags with encouraging messages like #allwillbewell have proliferated as authorities and individuals have tried to maintain a sense of optimism amid the shutdown.

People look out of their apartment windows as part of a flashmob organised to raise morale during Italy's coronavirus crisis in Turin, Italy, March 13, 2020.

A woman applauds as she hugs a dog, during a flash mob to raise morale during the coronavirus crisis, as the Italian government continues restrictive movement measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak, in Milan, Italy March 14, 2020.

A man plays accordion as he looks out of an apartment window as part of a flashmob organised to raise morale during Italy's coronavirus crisis in Rome, Italy, March 13, 2020.