Tallahassee Democrat According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, President Joe Biden will be ordering flags flown at half-staff on all federal properties for five days in honor of the 500,000 Americans who have been killed by the COVID-19 virus. The United States passed the grim milestone Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. The toll comes less than a year after the coronavirus outbreak was declared a pandemic. Five hundred candles glowed around President Joe Biden as he stood outside the White House in a moment of silence to honor the lives of the more than 500,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19.