'No words can numb the pain': Biden commemorates 500,000 US lives lost to COVID-19

US President Joe Biden on Monday commemorated the close to 500,000 American lives lost due to the novel COVID-19, shortly before 5 pm ET. The ceremony was joined by the First lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff in the White House South Portico. Ahead of the Monday evening’s vigil, Biden issued a presidential proclamation saying that the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic had exceeded far more than the casualties suffered in World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War, combined.

Eulogising the 'extraordinary' lives that succumbed to the vicious pandemic, taking "final breaths alone", Biden hailed the 'strong' individuals that fought the battle with the illness to the last. He honoured the "son who called his mom every night just to check-in" and the "best friend who was always there". He mentioned the healthcare workers as he hailed "the nurse who made her patients want to live".

"The people we lost were extraordinary. They spanned generations," Joe Biden said as the US recorded 500,071 deaths from the virus, as of February 22, accounting for about 20 per cent of the 2.4 million deaths registered worldwide. "Just like that, they took their final breath alone, in America.”

In a speech that he made outside the White House, the US president said that the country marked “a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone,” saying that remembrance is an important part of the healing process, for both, those who lost the loved ones and for the nation. Ahead of his live-streamed address, the US president ordered the flags at the White House lowered to half staff, and 500 candles to be lighted on the steps of South Lawn to honour the American lives lost. Meanwhile, US President, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff observed a minute of silence to express solidarity with the grieving families. 

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Encouraged families that they will 'heal'

Describing the pain of the loss of a loved one, Biden said, "For the loved ones left behind, I know all too well. I know what it's like to not be there when it happens. I know what it's like when you are there holding their hands, there's a look in their eye and they slip away. I know that when you stare at that empty chair around the kitchen table it brings it all back no matter how long ago it happened as if it just happened that moment.”

In a statement of encouragement, Biden told the families that they will "heal", adding that the "nation will smile again. This nation will know sunny days again. This nation will know joy again". He then advised, "While we've been fighting this pandemic for so long, we have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow. We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic, or a blur, or on the news". Meanwhile, in an interview with CNN Sunday, US top infectious diseases expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned the Americans against the ravaging impact of the coronavirus, saying that it may be possible that US will still have to continue measures such as the use of mask and social distancing through 2022. 

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