The committee organizing the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden announced Thursday that on the eve of this inauguration will organize a ceremony to pay tribute to 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 those usually scheduled before a new president comes to power, but seeks to help the country “unite to end the pandemic,” he explained. Presidential Investiture Committee (PIC) in a statement.
The main ceremony will take place on January 19 in Washington, where the outline of the reflective pool located in front of the Lincoln Monument, one of the most iconic in the capital and where Martin Luther King gave his famous speech “I have a dream” (1963).
“This will be the first time the contour of the pool is illuminated reflecting in memory of lost lives of Americans,” the PIC statement states.
This ceremony will take place at 17:30 (22.30 GMT), and the committee has urged cities and towns across the country to light their buildings and ring their church bells at the same time, to share a “national moment of unity and remembrance.”
“In the midst of a pandemic, when so many Americans are mourning the loss of family, friends and neighbors, it is important that we pay tribute to those who have died and reflect on what has been one of the most challenging periods in the nation’s history. “PIC communications director Pili Tobar said in the statement.
The ceremony also seeks to “renew the commitment” of Americans to “unite to end the pandemic and rebuild the country,” he added.
It is unclear yet whether Biden himself or his formula mate, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, will attend the Washington ceremony, according to the PIC.
Biden will be sworn into office the next day, Jan. 20, in an atypical investiture, which is expected to reflect the president-elect’s caution regarding covid-19 and his willingness to follow scientific recommendations.
The president-elect will take office in the traditional venue, an outdoor stage at the gates of the Capitol, but most other aspects of the day have changed due to the pandemic, and the concert and the dances will be broadcast virtually.
The pandemic’s organizing committee has urged Americans not to travel to Washington to witness the investiture, In order to avoid crowds at the National Mall, the outdoor 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 due to the pandemic, with 19.7 million cases and more than 342,000 deaths from covid-19, and is in the midst of an expanding death and hospitalization disease.