US COVID-19 Deaths Reach 500,000... White House Lowers Flag Early

President Biden to Attend Memorial Ceremony Scheduled

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. White House lowered flags to half-staff as the death toll from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) surpassed 500,000.

The flag was flown at half-staff at the White House. (Twitter capture)

According to the White House press corps, the White House lowered flags to half-staff at 5 p.m. local time on the 22nd. All federal agencies also flew their flags at half-staff.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated at a briefing that President Joe Biden ordered the flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor the "somber milestone" of 500,000 COVID-19 deaths.

The flags will remain at half-staff for five days until the 26th.

At 6 p.m. that day, President Biden is scheduled to attend and deliver a speech at a candlelight vigil commemorating the victims of COVID-19 at sunset.

The White House and President Biden urged all Americans to join in remembering the 500,000 lives lost.

One day earlier, the international statistics site Worldometer reported the cumulative COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. as 511,616, and on the same day, Johns Hopkins University estimated that the cumulative death toll surpassed 500,000 around 4:40 p.m.