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Coronavirus: Italians sing national anthem from their balconies to keep morale up during lockdown

Musicians in different cities of Italy led from the front as they came out in big numbers to their balconies to sing the anthem and various rousing soccer numbers

BY PRIYANKA SUNDAR

UPDATED MAR 20, 2020

Turin Musician Federica Magliano during the Flash Mob Italian Sound. (Getty Images)

For the second time, quarantined Italians sang their hearts out from their balconies in a bid to lift morale amid the country's severe coronavirus outbreak. They sang the National Anthem 'Il Canto degli Italiani', followed by a number of soccer songs.

The flashmobs are aimed at bringing people together and help them cope with the emergency even as the country remains in lockdown. The day saw people in many major cities coming out on their balconies.In Milan, the flashmob saw participation by opera singer Laura Baldassari who sang her heart out as she leaned out of her window.

Residents in Rome used pot lids as make-shift cymbals as they took part in the flashmob.

In Turin, musicians Federico Sirianni and Federica Magliano played from their balconies as they faced each other, while one sang, the other played an instrument as the others joined in.

The flashmob began as an idea when the words 'We will never give up!' echoed through the streets of Casoria in the southern city of Naples on Thursday evening. One of the residents, Susy Unica Silvestri, recorded the performance and shared it on her Facebook page and which has been shared many thousands of times since.

The locked down citizens also sang verses of 'Canto della Verbena', verses of their local team Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli as well. The team plays in the top tier of Italian football and fans are known for the chorus: "People like us will never give up; people like us will never give up; people like us; people like us; people like us will never give up" , whicvh was heard in unison in Casoria commune in Naples.

The defiance rang through as some local sang, "Come out on your balconies, out on your balconies! Come out on your balconies, out on your balconies! The virus that is facing us will not defeat us... The virus that is facing us will not defeat us!"

Among other Italian cities to join in on the flashmob was Siena in Tuscany.

As of Friday, Italy had 17,660 positive cases of coronavirus with 1,266 deaths. According to a report in Daily Mail, Lombardy alone accounts for 55% of the infected population and 70% of reported deaths caused COVID-19. The reported numbers are more than in any country outside of China.