Huang quoted Dr. Camara Phyllis Jones, former president of the American Public Health Association, who said that “the sheer number and loss of these people in our society has not been recognized. We cannot think that these people are disposable and expendable And that we can do very well without them. These are the types of blinders that undermine the strength of the whole society. “
President Biden and his government did their best to acknowledge the loss with a tribute and a moment of silence by candlelight at the White House at dusk on Monday. Broadcast networks broadcast live along with major cable news networks. Several of the broadcasts showed the victims’ faces and personalized the unfathomable loss.
You are not alone.
Faith, reflection, healing
CNN broadcast “We Remember 500,000: A National Memorial Service for Covid-19” on Monday. I asked presenter Jake Tapper how the one hour special program came about. “Last spring, given the government’s refusal to acknowledge the important loss that our country was suffering, a good friend of mine suggested that CNN fill this gap,” Tapper responded. “That was for 100,000 Covid deaths in the United States.” (The special aired on Sunday, May 31)
“Tragically, we are in another horrible and moving milestone, 500,000. So it made even more sense to take a moment to try to honor the loss and perhaps find a community and perhaps even greater meaning in faith and reflection,” said Tapper. “I am grateful as always for working on a news network and for a boss who allows such moments.”
We will never know the total death toll
In the Covid response team briefing on Monday, a reporter mentioned the fact that “some health officials and experts said that we are almost certainly underestimating COVID-19 deaths in this country.” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said: “I think that when history writes this, we will understand that the mortality related to this pandemic is much higher than the numbers we have been counting for several reasons.”