The committee organizing the inauguration of President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, announced that on Thursday on the eve of that inauguration he will organize a tribute ceremony for the victims of covid-19 in the country, where the pandemic has already left more than 342,000 dead.
The plan for the eve of Biden’s inauguration is more solemn than the one normally planned before a new president comes to power, but is intended to help the country “unite to end the pandemic ”, the Investiture Committee explained. Presidencial (PIC) in a statement.
The main ceremony will take place on January 19 in Washington, where the outline of the reflective pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, one of the capital’s most iconic, will be illuminated and where Martin Luther King delivered his famous ‘I have a dream’ speech. (“I have a dream”) in 1963.
“This will be the first time the perimeter of the reflective pool has been illuminated in memory of the lost lives of Americans,” the PIC statement said.
That ceremony will take place at 5:30 PM (10:30 PM GMT), and the committee has urged cities and towns across the country to light up their buildings while ringing their church bells, to mark a “national moment of unity and unity. reminder”.
“In the midst of a pandemic, when so many Americans mourn the loss of family, friends and neighbors, it is important that we honor those who have died and reflect on what has been one of the most challenging times in the history of the country.” PIC communications director Pili Tobar said in the statement.
The ceremony also aims to “renew the commitment” of the Americans to “unite to end the pandemic and rebuild the country,” he added.
It is not yet clear whether Biden himself or his running mate, vice president Kamala Harris, will attend the ceremony in Washington, the PIC said.
Biden will be sworn in the next day, Jan.20, at an atypical inauguration, which is expected to reflect the president-elect’s caution regarding COVID-19 and his willingness to follow scientific recommendations.
The president-elect will perform in the traditional venue, an open-air stage at the gates of the Capitol, but most other aspects of the day have changed due to the pandemic, and the concert and dances will be broadcast. virtual.
Pandemic organizing committee urged Americans not to travel to Washington to witness the inauguration, to avoid crowds on the National Mall, the open-air esplanade where hundreds of thousands of people usually congregate when a new leader comes to power.
The United States is the country in the world with the most infections and deaths from the pandemic, with 19.7 million cases and more than 342,000 deaths from Covid-19, and is in full swing of deaths and hospitalizations from the disease .