General Motors Lights Up Renaissance Center In Amber To Honor COVID-19 Victims

General Motors illuminated its towering Rennaissance Center headquarters in downtown Detroit in amber lights Tuesday to honor those who have died after contracting COVID-19.

The Renaissance Center was lit in dazzling amber lights from 5:30 p.m. ET to 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday night. The automaker says the amber lights were part of the national memorial for victims of COVID-19, which was set up by the Presidential Inaugural Committee for Joe Biden. The national memorial included the “first-ever lighting around the Reflecting Pool to memorialize American lives lost,” the incoming administration said, and also saw communities around the country light up buildings and ring church bells to honor those who have died as a result of the disease.

“In the midst of a pandemic — when so many Americans are grieving the loss of family, friends, and neighbors — it is important that we honor those who have died, reflect on what has been one of the more challenging periods in the nation’s history, and renew our commitment to coming together to end the pandemic and rebuild our nation,” inauguration committee spokesman Pili Tobar said this week.

General Motors has played a major role in the country’s fight against COVID-19. The automaker set up a dedicated ventilator production plant in Kokomo, Indiana last year, where it built 30,000 critical care ventilators for hospitals and the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. GM also directed grant funding to nonprofit organizations across the country to address critical COVID-19 related needs, and manufactured millions of face masks and thousands of face shields, protective gowns and aerosol boxes at a facility in Michigan.

Ventilators sit in a storage room at a GM facility in Kokomo, Indiana

In addition, General Motors partnered with the UAW and fellow American automakers Ford and FCA last year to establish a COVID-19 Task Force to implement enhanced protections for manufacturing and warehouse employees at all three companies, helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 between essential workers at automotive production plants and fulfillment centers.

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