Governor Kay Ivey has ordered flags to half-staff in Alabama to honor and remember the more than 500,000 Americans who have died due to COVID-19.

The action was taken in accordance by a proclamation issued Monday by President Joe Biden; Ivey has ordered flags lowered until sunset on Friday, February 26.

“Alabama joins the rest of the nation in paying our respects to the thousands of lives lost and the families impacted by COVID-19,” Ivey wrote in a memo to all state agencies. “We lift up our state and nation in prayer as we continue to stay strong and move forward to defeat this virus.”

You can keep up with the latest coronavirus-related data in the Yellowhammer State here.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn