President-elect Joe Biden will host a nationwide coronavirus memorial service on Jan. 19, the day before his inauguration.
Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee announced Thursday that the president-elect will take part in a ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., at 5:30 p.m. ET. The committee invited towns and cities across the country to ring bells and “light up their buildings” at the same time in a “national moment of unity and remembrance.” (RELATED: Biden Vows To Give Congress His Plan For ‘What Comes Next’ On Coronavirus ‘Early Next Year’)
WILMINGTON, DE – DECEMBER 29: U.S. President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at the Queen Theater on December 29, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden will be inaugurated as the 46th president in a scaled-down ceremony due to the pandemic in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2021. (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
“The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris represents the beginning of a new national journey,” committee spokesperson Pili Tobar said in a Thursday statement accompanying the annoncement. “However, in the midst of a pandemic — when so many Americans are grieving the loss of family, friends and neighbors — it is important that we honor those who have died, reflect on what has been one of the more challenging periods in the nation’s history, and renew our commitment to coming together to end the pandemic and rebuild our nation.”
Biden has spent the weeks following election night receiving briefings from his transition team in Wilmington, Delaware, and formulating an additional coronavirus stimulus and mitigation plan. He vowed just before Christmas to deliver the plan to Congress early in the new year.
“There’s a lot more work to do. Early next year, I’m going to put forward to the Congress my plans for what comes next,” he during a press briefing. “There will be no time to waste in taking the steps we need to turn this crisis around.”
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Biden further outlined the four specific areas his plan will address. Bankrolling the distribution effort for approved coronavirus vaccines, helping the millions of families out of work due to the pandemic — including rent and mortgage relief — economic aid and personal protective equipment for small businesses and creating new jobs.
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