Last week, the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States reached 1 million, but there is a higher number - 9 million, which is the number of Americans who have lost their spouses, parents, grandparents, siblings and children due to COVID-19.
On May 7, the Washington Post published an article titled "The death toll of COVID-19 exceeds one million, bringing more permanent changes to millions of people." The article notes that the 1 million people who died appear to be a random group, but they fall into a clear category: most are elderly, low-income African-American or Hispanic, and the vast majority are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Screenshot of the Washington Post report
Sociologists at the University of Southern California have come up with the concept of the "bereavement multiplier," a method of counting the number of loved ones left behind after each COVID-19 patient dies. On average, that number is nine — and that doesn't include extended family or close friends, long-time co-workers or next-door neighbors, many of whom are also deeply affected, the study said.
The National Center for Health Statistics reports that the death toll is likely to be much higher than the officially announced 1 million, noting that some death certificates show that Americans who died from heart attacks or high blood pressure are likely to have an undiagnosed coronavirus infection.
Americans die of COVID-19 at a much higher rate than any other country, and life expectancy has fallen at the fastest rate in the past two years since World War I and the 1918 flu. In the ripples of each death spreading outward, tensions and divisions in American society are intensifying, and no one is immune in the context of the new crown.
The Washington Post wrote stories about several victims when the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States reached one million, and the article likened the lives of these people to "experiencing a huge void."
"Still miss Mom and Dad"
Misty and Kevin have four children – twins Taylor and Aidan, 12, Leah, 15, and Riley, 17. One day last September, the children's aunt, Sartre, drove from South Carolina to pick them up from South Carolina to their home, their new home. Sartre did not immediately tell them on the way back that Misty had died after 4 days in hospitalization for COVID-19. 14 days later, Kevin also died of COVID-19.
The Misty family. Pictured from The Washington Post
Sartre waited until the children moved in before telling them about their parents' deaths. After 6 months, although the pain is still there, the children have managed to make new friends. Sartre and her husband have several puppies that the children love to play with. For Sartre, the deaths of his sister and brother-in-law meant a sudden change in his life. Her own two children have grown up, and now there is a room of children, eating and dressing, the same can not be less.
The day after the children arrived in South Carolina, Sartre took them to be vaccinated. Previously their parents refused to be vaccinated. "Everybody in our family is stubborn." Misty's mother, Casey, said, "Kevin kept saying there was no need for vaccination. When Misty died, I was mad at Kevin. At 8 a.m., Casey often receives text messages from Taylor: "I love you, but I still miss Mom and Dad." ”
A restaurant plunged into mourning
It's been almost two years since Wang Ming died of COVID-19, but customers still visit his small restaurant in Nebraska. In March 2020, he contracted COVID-19 on a cruise ship to New Zealand and died after 74 days in hospitalization at the age of 71. In the year after his death, his wife Wang Lu barely left the house. She didn't want to go to public, where everyone seemed to know her husband.
Wang Ming's 42-year-old daughter, Anne, posted on Facebook in September 2020: "The world continues to move forward around me, and I am still standing where I am, trying to figure out how I should go." Should I be better now? Should I be less upset? Should it be happier? "Time hasn't calmed everything down. It turned out that there was more than one difficult matter, they often quarreled with some customers about wearing masks, and supply chain problems forced wang Ping, the son who took over the restaurant, to raise the price of the dish.
Wang Ming's restaurant. Pictured from The Washington Post
Wang Ming, who is remembered by his family. Pictured from The Washington Post
Wang Ping, 46, was a flight instructor before taking over the restaurant. He and his sister have worked in their own restaurant since they were teenagers, and after their father retired in 2003, they took on more responsibilities. For them, the restaurant was the embodiment of their father's American dream. Now, without his father, Wang Ping felt lost. Father's recipes have no written records and can only be restored from memory. He wanted to compose these dishes so that Wang Ming's grandchildren could inherit his craft.
Beloved bus driver
People driving for the Allegheny County Port Authority gathered in the conference room to listen again to the recording that Karima Howard had saved on his cell phone, with the dispatcher announcing the death of Marlon Lucas: "Attention all units, there is important information broadcast. Marlon Lucas left. Everyone will miss you. The broadcast is complete. ”
Lucas, who was 57 when he died, also became the first person in the local drivers' union to pick up a car and never return after receiving it, because of COVID-19. After his death in December 2020, other drivers in Allegheny County lost an event organizer. Lucas was responsible for organizing Christmas parties, high school reunions, and bowling leagues. Trade unions have lost the atmosphere of solidarity. Lucas' colleague Howard said, "Malone was able to bring everyone together. Now we don't trust each other anymore, or even that someone will leave a clean bus for the driver who takes over. I don't believe anyone can wipe the car clean, so it will be wiped again."
Marlon Lucas with friends before his death
In the house she lived in with her husband for 34 years, Dana Lucas's life has been out of focus since Lucas's death. She said: "We used to be together everywhere we went, and now no one goes out with me. "Since the death of her husband, strange things have happened around the house. Dana said: "Sometimes I sit in my bedroom and smell the cologne sprayed by marlon. My thoughts are: thank you for letting me know you're here! ”
Dana was not angry at those who did not get vaccinated. She said: "I can be angry about a lot of things, like my husband is gone. But why waste my anger on people who don't care about themselves? I know what I have, I know what I've lost, I refuse to go out without wearing a mask. I was forced to do this alone. ”