DeWine orders flags lowered in remembrance of 1 million Americans killed by COVID-19

Gov. Mike DeWine has ordered that state and U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on all public buildings and grounds throughout the state in remembrance of the more than 1 million American lives lost to COVID-19.

Flags are to remain lowered until sunset Monday, a news release states.

The order is in accordance with an order issued by President Joe Biden, who appealed to world leaders at a virtual COVID-19 summit Thursday to reenergize a lagging international commitment to attacking the virus as he led the U.S. in marking the “tragic milestone” of 1 million deaths in America.

“This pandemic isn’t over,” Biden declared at the second global pandemic summit. He spoke solemnly of the once-unthinkable U.S. toll: “1 million empty chairs around the family dinner table.”

The coronavirus has killed more than 999,000 people in the U.S. and at least 6.2 million people globally since it emerged in late 2019, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Other counts, including by the American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association, have the toll at 1 million.

“Today, we mark a tragic milestone here in the United States, 1 million COVID deaths,” he said.

The president called on Congress to urgently provide billions of dollars more for testing, vaccines and treatments, something lawmakers have been unwilling to deliver so far.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.