President Joe Biden called on all Americans to remember the 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19 and to remain vigilant against the virus during remarks and a national moment of silence on Monday. Biden said, “The people we lost were extraordinary. They span generations — born in America, immigrated to America…But just like that, so many of them took their final breath alone in America. I ask all Americans to remember — remember those who were lost and those who were left behind,” the president said. “But as we remember, as we all remember, I also asked us to act, to remain vigilant.”
Biden ordered flags on federal property lowered to half staff for five days as he prepared to lead a moment of communal mourning for those lost to the virus, telling the nation he knows it’s hard but that “to heal, we must remember.”
The COVID-19 death total in the United States had just crossed 400,000 when Biden took the oath of office. An additional 100,000 have died in the past month. The milestone comes just over a year after the first confirmed U.S. fatality from the coronavirus. The pandemic has since swept across the world and the U.S., stressing the nation’s health care system and the economy.
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