April 11, 2020

April 11, 2020*:

Cases reported: 28,447

Deaths reported: 1,844

One year ago today, I received the news that my Uncle Joe tested positive. He was a resident in a VA home in Alabama. I am so thankful I was able to visit him the previous month, as I did not know then it would be the last time I would see him. He died on April 13, 2020, a few days short of his 71st birthday. He was a Navy veteran, having served during Vietnam (in addition to my father and their other brother), and suffered from Parkinson’s disease. He was one of 96 residents and staff to test positive in 2020, and sadly one of 46 who died (the home has 150 beds), one among thousands of nursing home residents who have fallen to this virus.

This project started as a way to try to comprehend staggering numbers, and quickly turned into a way for me to process grief, which then extended to connnections to others who have also lost loved ones. As we move toward vaccine accessibility for all, it will become a way for us to come together and hear one another’s stories, to remember and honor those who died, to record how this virus has affected people in wildly differing ways, and to discuss ways to build a stronger, healthier collective social network that cares for all of our neighbors.

*data is sourced from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center database. These numbers change over time, as backlogged data is added over time for various reasons. Detailed information about data changes and how data is sourced can be found here.

August 16, 2020