It’s a hard number to grasp, but today the United States is marking a grim milestone. NPR reports:
On Tuesday, the last full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, the official death count reached 400,000 — a once-unthinkable number. More than 100,000 Americans have perished in the pandemic in just the past five weeks. In the U.S., someone now dies from COVID-19 every 26 seconds. And the disease is now claiming more American lives each week than any other condition, ahead of heart disease and cancer, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
VOX adds, “In just the 11 months since the country’s first confirmed death from Covid-19, the disease has killed as many Americans as US soldiers who died during four years of World War II.”
This news comes as president-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris host a memorial for victims of the coronavirus at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
President-elect Joe Biden: "To heal we must remember…It's important to do that as a nation…between sundown and dusk let us shine the lights in the darkness along the sacred pool of reflection and remember all who we lost."
Full video here: https://t.co/zJgfdrALb8 pic.twitter.com/0Ilc6ggZhu
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 19, 2021
Michigan nurse Lori Marie Key, who went viral singing 'Amazing Grace' at work, reprises the song at the national COVID-19 memorial ceremony pic.twitter.com/8OtCaNU5mw
— NowThis Impact (@nowthisimpact) January 19, 2021
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi issued a statement saying:
“Tomorrow, when President-elect Biden is sworn in, the American people can have confidence that ‘help is on the way.’ The Biden-Harris emergency coronavirus relief package delivers the big, bold and urgent action that Congressional Democrats have been fighting for – including swift and equitable distribution of the vaccine to crush the virus, bigger direct payment checks, support for state and local government, extended unemployment insurance, and more aid for small businesses, renters and others who are struggling. As we mourn this devastating milestone, we must come together to move past the failed Trump response to crush the virus and deliver robust, real relief now.”
Speaker Pelosi moment of silence remembering those lost to COVID pic.twitter.com/Kdj1jb2Wrz
— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotcnn) January 19, 2021
Watch the full memorial above. It will only take a few minutes and it’s well worth your time.