BATON ROUGE - White flags covered the state Capitol lawn Monday, honoring each life lost to COVID-19 in Louisiana since the start of the pandemic.

Governor's office staffers placed the flags, one for each person killed by the virus, outside the Capitol building. Tuesday marks the anniversary of the state's first confirmed case of the coronavirus, which has caused 9,758 known deaths statewide according to the Louisiana Department of Health.

.@LouisianaGov's staff has put a white flag outside the Capitol for every person who has died of #COVID19. The anniversary of the first case in Louisiana is tomorrow. #lalege #lagov pic.twitter.com/1ExFltMflM

— Julie O'Donoghue (@JSODonoghue) March 8, 2021

The first case was confirmed at an Orleans Parish hospital March 9. To date, there have been 434,289 known cases of COVID-19 in Louisiana.