Coronavirus

Freedom Tower turns amber to honor 400k COVID deaths in U.S. as part of national tribute

Freedom Tower in downtown Miami is illuminated to remember the over 4,500 Miami-Dade residents lost during the pandemic on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. The county joins cities and counties across the nation to honor the more than 400,000 people in the United States who lost their lives to COVID-19.
Freedom Tower in downtown Miami is illuminated to remember the over 4,500 Miami-Dade residents lost during the pandemic on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. The county joins cities and counties across the nation to honor the more than 400,000 people in the United States who lost their lives to COVID-19. Special for the Miami Herald

With the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 infections topping 400,000 Tuesday, South Florida joined municipalities across the nation in honoring those who died from the deadly disease.

The tribute called for governments, business owners and religious institutions to illuminate the sky with amber and ring bells at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Among those participating: the Freedom Tower, PortMiami, Marlins Park, Stephen P. Clark Center and The Guitar Hotel at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood.

On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Joe Biden memorialized the victims of COVID-19 at a lighting ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava encouraged people to remember the more than 4,500 Miami-Dade County residents who died during the pandemic.

“To all the families who cannot do that with the ones you’ve lost, my heart is with you — Miami-Dade is with you,’’ she tweeted Tuesday evening.

“It’s important that we come together as a community and as a nation to mourn, reflect, and remember all those we have lost,” she said in a news release.

This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 9:01 PM.

Carli Teproff
Miami Herald
Carli Teproff grew up in Northeast Miami-Dade and graduated from Florida International University in 2003. She became a full-time reporter for the Miami Herald in 2005 and now covers breaking news.
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