Biden honors Americans who died of COVID-19
In remarks ahead of a candlelight ceremony, Biden addressed the nation.
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"Today we mark a truly grim, heartbreaking milestone: 500,071 dead," Biden said.
"That's more lives lost to this virus than any other nation on Earth. But as we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, remember each person and the life they lived," he continued.
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"We often hear of people described as 'ordinary Americans.' There's no such thing. There's nothing ordinary about them. The people we lost were extraordinary. They spanned generations. Born in America, immigrated to America, but just like that, so many of them took their final breath alone in America," Biden said. "As a nation, we can't accept such a cruel fate. 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. We must do so to honor the dead, but equally important, care for the living, those they left behind -- for the loved ones left behind."