President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Americans should not grow numb to the sorrow of the coronaviruses, as he marked 1 million Covid- 19 deaths in the United States.
Biden urged the country to remain vigilant as he prepared to issue a proclamation ordering flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of those who lost their lives due to Covid and to co-host a global summit charting the next steps in tackling the epidemic.
There are a million empty chairs around the dinner table. Each is an irreplaceable loss. Biden said that each time a family, a community, and a nation changed forever because of the Pandemic, Biden said in a statement released by the White House early Thursday morning.
The president said he and his wife, first lady Jill Biden, were praying for those who are grieving, adding: I know the pain of that black hole in your heart. It is unrelenting. I know that the ones you love are never gone. They will always be with you. As a nation, Americans must not grow numb to the pain, according to Biden. He said to heal, we must remember.
We must remain vigilant against the epidemic and do everything we can do to save as many lives as possible, as we have with more testing, vaccines, and treatments than ever before. The president said it was important for Congress to sustain resources for combating the spread of Covid-19 over the next few months.
Biden said at a global summit on Thursday that he wanted to bring an end to the Covid 19 crisis and plan for future crises.
The White House said earlier this week that the virtual summit would be co-chaired by the U.S. along with Germany, which currently holds the G 7 presidency, and G 20 president Indonesia, as well as African Union chair Senegal and Belize, as CARICOM chair.
The U.S. passed the 1 million mark earlier this month, reaching a number equivalent to the population size of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. As of Wednesday, Covid 19 deaths in the U.S. had reached 1,002, 848, according to the data released by NBC News.
In recent weeks, deaths from Covid have slowed, but an average of 481 people are dying on a daily basis, which is a two-week increase of about 41 percent, according to an analysis by NBC News.
In an interview earlier this month, Dr. Christopher Murray, who heads the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, told NBC News that the fact that so many have died is still appalling. He noted that the death toll will only grow in the days ahead.
This is not over, Murray said.