The White House lowered its flag to half staff at 5 p
The White House lowered its flag to half staff at 5 p.m.
ET on Monday as the United States topped 500,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.
Joe Biden will hold a candlelight ceremony at sunset to mark the milestone and he will address the nation at 6 p.m. ET to mark the lives lost to the deadly virus.
He’s ordered flags to be lowered for five days on federal property in remembrance of those who died.
Biden will be joined by first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff when he holds a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony on the South Portico of the White House.
Biden last month observed America’s COVID-19 deaths on the eve of his inauguration with a sundown ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi marked the death toll with a moment of silence on the House floor on Monday morning.
Pelosi asked everyone in the Capitol ‚to rise for a moment of silence in remembrance of more than 500,000 Americans who passed away from the COVID-19 virus.‘
She also ordered the flags in the Capitol at half-staff and will join her fellow Congressional leaders – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy – in a moment of silence on the Capitol stairs at sundown.
A little more than a year after the first COVID death in the country, the United States has hit the half-million mark.
No other county has had so many deaths from the virus.
The U.S. accounts for 20 percent of the nearly 2.5 million coronavirus deaths globally, though the true numbers are thought to be significantly greater because many cases were overlooked early in the outbreak.
That equals the number of Americans killed three wars – World War II, Korea and Vietnam – combined.
It is also equal to the population of Kansas City, Missouri, and greater than that of Miami; Raleigh, North Carolina; or Omaha, Nebraska.
The figure compiled by Johns Hopkins University surpasses the number of people who died in 2019 of chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s, flu and pneumonia combined.
Average daily deaths and cases have plummeted in the past few weeks.
Virus deaths have fallen from more than 4,000 reported on some days in January to an average of fewer than 1,900 per day.
But experts warn that the changing strains of the virus could cause the trend to reverse itself.
Some experts say not enough Americans have been inoculated yet for the vaccine to be making much of a difference.
Instead, the drop-off in deaths and cases has been attributed to the passing of the holidays; the cold and bleak days of midwinter, when many people are inclined to stay home; and better adherence to mask rules and social distancing.
The first known deaths from the virus in the U.S.
happened in early February 2020.
It took four months to reach the first 100,000 dead. The toll hit 200,000 deaths in September and 300,000 in December. Then it took just over a month to go from 300,000 to 400,000 and florida foreign national mortgage about two months to climb from 400,000 to the brink of 500,000.
The U.S.
recorded an estimated 405,000 deaths in World War II, 58,000 in the Vietnam War and 36,000 in the Korean War.
The White House lowered its flag to half staff at 5 p.m.
ET on Monday as the United States topped 500,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic
Flags will be lowered on federal property for five days
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will hold a candlelight ceremony Monday at sunset
Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a moment of silence on the House floor Monday morning