Ducey orders flags lowered to honor those lost to COVID-19

Cutline: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday ordered the lowering of flags in the state for five days to honor victims of the coronavirus pandemic. (File photo by Howard Fischer/For the Miner)

Originally Published: February 23, 2021 5:13 p.m.

PHOENIX (AP) – Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has joined President Joe Biden in ordering the lowering of flags for five days starting Tuesday to honor the thousands of lives lost due to COVID-19.

Ducey said in a statement Monday that “every life is precious" and that Arizona was grieving and praying for all the lives lost to the disease,

Arizona's death toll from the coronavirus passed 15,000 last week while COVID-19 as of Monday had claimed over 500,000 lives nationwide.

Biden late Monday delivered a eulogy at the White House, saying the nation was marking a “grim, heartbreaking milestone" but “will smile again."

Arizona on Tuesday reported 1,184 additional confirmed COVID-19 cases and 148 deaths, increasing the state's pandemic totals to 810,658 cases and 15,650 deaths.

The number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations and rolling seven-day daily averages of new cases and deaths continued to decrease, according to the state's coronavirus dashboard and The COVID Tracking Project.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher than the number reported because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.