Rome residents took to their balconies and leaned out of windows on Saturday (March 14) to give a round of applause to the country's health workers for their handling of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

The flash mob, which was organised via social media, comes as the country is in virtual lockdown with all but essential movement from home banned in an effort to contain the virus.

People applaud from their home windows and balconies of a residential district, during a flash mob organized through social media in order to acknowledge physicians, nurses, volunteers and other health workers who are engaged in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak, in Rome, March 14, 2020. Italians are facing strong prevention measures imposed by the government, such as the closing of cafes, restaurants and other shops, museums and movies, and the forbidding of personal movement, except going to the supermarket, pharmacy or at work, aimed to avoid a further spread of the covid-19