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 | | The New York Times |
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 | | American flags have been lowered to half-staff though sunset tonight to commemorate the coming milestone of one million Covid deaths in the U.S.Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA, via Shutterstock |
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The United States is poised to reach a previously unthinkable milestone: one million deaths from the coronavirus. |
The magnitude of loss is nearly impossible to grasp. More Americans have died from Covid-19 than in two decades of car crashes or on battlefields in all of the country's wars combined. The U.S. toll is higher than that of any other country in the world. |
Three-quarters of those who have died of Covid have been 65 or older — 1 percent of all people in this age group. And the pandemic has been especially deadly for the oldest. Covid has killed more than 3 percent of the entire U.S. population 85 and older. |
 | | The New York Times |
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Black and Hispanic people in every age group have died at higher rates than white people. Health experts said that the disparity stems in part because a disproportionate share of essential workers are people of color and because communities of color had lower vaccination rates in the first months of the rollout. |
 | | The New York Times |
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About 60 percent of all deaths at the beginning of the pandemic happened in the Northeast, as the virus tore through cities and suburbs on the Eastern Seaboard. New York City alone saw 20 percent of the nation's deaths in the first wave, despite making up just 3 percent of the U.S. population. |
But the South has experienced the highest overall death rates of any region. More than 378,000 people in the region have died, many of them younger. |
 | | The New York Times |
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The South is home to some of the lowest vaccination rates. Epidemiologists also point to less stringent virus responses, like shorter lockdowns and loose masking restrictions. |
More than 429,000 people have died of Covid since all adults in the United States became eligible for vaccination in April 2021. |
A majority of them were unvaccinated, but as the virus has continued to spread, it has killed thousands of vaccinated people, too. |
"It's just sobering that in a country with remarkable resources like ours that we are seeing deaths like this," said Dr. Lisa Cooper, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Equity. "And we're seeing a lack of benefit from therapy that we know is accessible." |
 | | The New York Times |
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The shocking death toll is the result of many factors, including elected officials who downplayed the threat of the virus and resisted safety measures; a decentralized, overburdened health care system that struggled with testing, tracing and treatment; and lower vaccination and booster rates than in other rich countries. |
What these failures left behind are families robbed of time with loved ones and millions of Americans who carry a grief that at times feels lonely, permanent and agonizingly removed from the country's shared journey. |
"I was really struck by how many people said that when they tell someone that they lost a relative to Covid, the first question is always, 'Oh, did she have pre-existing conditions?'" Julie told me. "It's a revealing question because to me it says, 'I'm trying to reassure myself that I'm OK and that I'm not going to die.' And also, 'I'm justifying the death of your loved one.'" |
Many families feel as if their pain is being written off as the country tries to collectively move on from the pandemic. For now, there is no enduring national memorial to the people who have died, no communal place to gather and mourn. |
"For us, the pandemic isn't just this blip in our history," said Erin Reiner, whose mother, Gwen Wilson, a champion bowler and quilter in Kansas, died from Covid at the age of 72. "People talk about it like it's such an inconvenience — we don't get to do this, we don't get to have this celebration. I only wish that's all it was for us, for me, for the countless other families." |
The Times Opinion section recently asked readers to share memories of their loved ones who died from Covid as a way to memorialize them and give other readers a better sense of what it's like to lose someone during the pandemic. We gathered some of those notes here. Thank you to everyone who shared their memories. |
"Aunt Joan was a nurse who dedicated her life to the service of others, and today she died in the hospital she dedicated her life to. I will miss my Aunt Joan's wit, her grace, her optimism and her closing down of after parties with my mother and Darlene after the heartiest had their fill. She attended every 99-seat theater show of mine in New York — all of questionable quality and content — and always had me sign the playbill just to make me feel special. It was a running joke we were both in on, and it was our silent hug. I'll miss those never-to-be moments more than anything." — Jeremy Kehoe |
"My brother David C. Heininger died on Dec. 18, 2021, at 63. David was passionate about so many things — but oh boy, first and foremost — FOOD. He was a chef. He and Kathryn had recently retired from owning an award-winning goat dairy. Kathryn raised the goats, he made amazing goat cheese and fine artisan chocolates. I miss David's laugh. I miss making him laugh. I miss him picking up the phone when I call with "It's my SISTER!" in this big joyful voice. I miss everything." — Cynthia F. Heininger |
"Bob Read, a veteran broadcast journalist who served as senior producer of Inside Edition's investigative unit, spent much of his last year of life reporting on Covid-19. Bob was a mentor and role model to many, and his dedication to helping others was incomparable. In that spirit, Bob recorded a daily journal of his fight with Covid hoping to protect, educate and save lives. Mostly though, Bob was an extraordinary man, wonderful friend, loving husband and simply the best dad ever." — Michele Riordan Read |
"My brother was born with Down syndrome and couldn't speak; however, he loved his family and friends and often gave us strong hugs and big smiles. A former teacher told us a story how he helped his classmate and friend, who was wheelchair-bound. My brother would always push his wheelchair and even set up his lunch every day. John John was also a teaser, he absolutely loved blowing out our birthday candles on our birthdays, it became a tradition for him to help. He was our candle bandit, and without him birthdays are not the same." — Jeneffer Estampador Haynes |
"Jimmy Robinson died on Jan. 17, 2021. I'll miss his Thanksgiving dinners, his devotion to Black baseball stars, his willingness to check out a new-to-him jazz recording, his love of gossip and most of all his abiding and unrelenting use of the word "mother—" in seemingly every sentence and utterance! He could cook any and everything well and collard greens and black-eyed peas exceptionally so. He was the neighborhood watchman, barbershop raconteur and family touchstone for all things good, bad or indiscreet. I spoke with him almost every day of my adult life. The void left with his passing is unfathomable." — David Robinson |
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