WA Lowers Flags To Mourn 500,000 COVID-19 Casualties

OLYMPIA, WA - On Monday, the United States saw its 500,000th death due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

To mark that somber milestone and mourn the deceased, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has ordered that flags across the state be flown at half-staff through the week. The flags will remain lowered until sunset on Friday.

In announcing his order, Inslee took to Twitter to express his condolences to the millions of Americans who lost family members to the pandemic.

"We mourn 500,000 Americans lost to COVID-19. It is felt in empty seats at the table, in the grief of losing a parent, grandparent, friend or a child. While we can’t bring them back, we can honor their memory by doing all we can to make sure that fewer people get sick," wrote the governor. "The half a million Americans who have died from COVID includes thousands of Washingtonians who are no longer with us. President Biden has ordered flags lowered to honor those we’ve lost, and I hope that you will join me in holding them all in our hearts."

Earlier, President Joe Biden had ordered that all U.S. flags on federal properties be lowered to half-staff for the week.

Read more: Biden Holds Memorial As U.S. Reaches 500,000 COVID Deaths

At the time of Inslee's announcement Monday, there had been more than 28.2 million cases of COVID-19 in America. In Washington alone, there had been 317,223 confirmed coronavirus cases, more than 17,000 more probable cases, and 4,857 COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began in spring 2020.