Why are flags at half mast today utah

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Flags at half-mast at Utah State Capitol. Courtesty of Utah.gov

(ABC4) – American flags across the nation and at the Utah State Capitol building are flying at half-mast on Thursday. The announcement came from President Biden who said in a statement that the death toll in America from COVID-19 has reached 1 million.

Flags were brought to half-mast today and will stay at half-mast until May 16.

“Today, we mark a tragic milestone: one million American lives lost to COVID-19,” Biden said in a White House Statement. “One million empty chairs around the dinner table. Each an irreplaceable loss. Each leaving behind a family, a community, and a nation forever changed because of this pandemic. Jill and I pray for each of them.”

With the statement, the President ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast throughout public buildings, military posts, naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the federal government.

“In remembrance, let us draw strength from each other as fellow Americans,” said Biden. “For while we have been humbled, we never give up. We can and will do this together as the United States of America. May God bless the one million American lives lost and their loved ones left behind.”

As deaths from COVID-19 reach the 1 million mark in the U.S., worldwide deaths have reached over 6 million so far.

UPDATED: MAY 24, 2022 AT 9:47 PM

A U.S. Secret Service officer lowers the American flag to half staff over the White House following the recent mass shooting at a Texas elementary school on May 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has ordered the flags at all state facilities to be lowered in honor of the 19 students and two adults who were shot and killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday.

The announcement comes after President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff “at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions” until sunset on May 28, 2022.

“I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”

Click here to read Biden’s full statement.

Following the deadly shooting, the Utah Governor and Lt. Governor released a joint statement, which read in part, “We are absolutely devastated to learn about the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. It’s hard to imagine a more heinous crime.”

Click here to see what other Utah leaders and organizations had to say about the incident.

UPDATED: JULY 8, 2022 AT 3:58 PM

In this image from a video, Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes a campaign speech in Nara, western Japan shortly before he was shot Friday, July 8, 2022. Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a divisive arch-conservative and one of his nation's most powerful and influential figures, has died after being shot during a campaign speech Friday in western Japan, hospital officials said.(Kyodo News via AP)

SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Spencer Cox has ordered both the United States flag and the state of Utah flag to be kept lowered to the half-staff position in honor of former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe.

Abe died after being shot as he delivered a campaign speech in Western Japan Friday.

Flags will be kept in the lowered position until sunset on Sunday, July 10, 2022.

President Joe Biden released a statement Friday morning about the shooting.

Killing stuns world that associates Japan with gun control

Flags at the Herriman City Cemetery fly at half-staff in recognition of those that have lost their lives to COVID-19 on Sunday, May 24, 2020. Gov. Spencer Cox has joined President Joe Biden in calling for flags to be lowered once again to mark 1 million COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is joining President Joe Biden in calling for flags to be lowered in honor of the lives lost to COVID-19.

The governor — who announced on Twitter Thursday he’s tested positive for the virus but so far feels fine and is isolating — authorized the immediate lowering of U.S. and state flags flying at all state facilities. The flags are to remain at half-staff through sunset Monday in accordance with the president’s proclamation.

Biden said in a statement issued earlier Thursday that his action was to “mark a tragic milestone: one million American lives lost to COVID-19. One million empty chairs around the dinner table. Each an irreplaceable loss. Each leaving behind a family, a community, and a nation forever changed because of this pandemic.”

Although NBC News reported that milestone had been reached a week ago, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the total number of lives lost in the United States to COVID-19 at 995,747 deaths Thursday.

The Utah Department of Health, which now updates the state’s virus statistics weekly rather than daily under the governor’s “steady state’ response to the pandemic, posted Thursday that the state has seen 4,761 deaths due to COVID-19.

That’s an increase of one additional life lost since May 5, and coronavirus cases are continuing to rise in Utah. Thursday, the state health department reported there have been 3,385 new cases in the past week, more than a 30% increase in the seven-day average case count.

The president said he understands “the pain of that black hole” in the hearts of those who have lost loved ones to COVID-19.

“As a nation, we must not grow numb to such sorrow. To heal, we must remember. We must remain vigilant against this pandemic and do everything we can to save as many lives as possible, as we have with more testing, vaccines, and treatments than ever before. It’s critical that Congress sustain these resources in the coming months,” Biden said.

The White House is pushing Congress to act on a request for $22.5 billion to continue battling the virus. A bipartisan $10 billion funding package negotiated with the help of Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, has been stalled over the administration’s easing of pandemic restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border.