BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Americans settled for small processions and online tributes instead of parades Monday as they observed Memorial Day in the shadow of the cornavirus pandemic.

The smaller, more subdued ceremonies honored the nation's military dead and also remembered those lost to the virus.

President Donald Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Virginia; Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made his first public appearance in two months and laid a wreath at a cemetery near his home.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities warned beach-goers to heed social-distancing rules to avoid a resurgence of the disease that has infected 5.4 million people worldwide and killed over 345,000.

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