US President Joe Biden led a moment of silence for 400,000 American victims of the coronavirus on Wednesday, warning the country may be entering the deadliest phase of the pandemic.

“We need all our strength to persevere through this dark winter. We’re entering what may be the toughest and deadliest period of the virus,” Biden said in his inaugural address.

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As the US confronts the deadly coronavirus and deep political divisions, he warned that to overcome its challenges will require “so much more than words, it will require the most elusive of all things in a democracy, unity.”

“Today on this January day, my whole soul is in this: bringing America together, uniting our people, uniting our nation, and I ask every American to join me in this cause,” the 46th US president said.

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Earlier, Biden had led a memorial for the COVID-19 memorial for the victims of the virus on the eve of his inauguration on Tuesday. The new administration has made it its top priority to fight the virus as they plan to fast-track vaccinations in a country which has seen the highest number of cases and deaths.