President Biden has led a minute's silence to honour coronavirus victims after the US became the first country to record more than half a million deaths
'This nation will know sunny days again'President Joe Biden has led a minute's silence to honour America's coronavirus victims after the country became the first to record more than half a million deaths.
As 500 lit candles lined the White House steps to commemorate the dead, a military band played Amazing Grace and the president made his emotional remarks. "Today we mark a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone - 500,071 dead. That's more Americans who have died in one year in this pandemic than in World War One, World War Two and the Vietnam War combined," he said."But as we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, we remember each person and the life they lived. They're people we knew."
There have now been 500,201 COVID-related fatalities in the country as of 2am, and more than 28 million people have been infected, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.Mr Biden was joined by First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff, who bowed their heads solemnly as they observed a minute of silence.
The president also urged Americans to set aside their differences, saying:"We must end the politics and misinformation that has divided families, communities and the country, and has cost too many lives already. It's not Democrats and Republicans who are dying from the virus. It's our fellow Americans.
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