Soon, likely in the next few weeks, the U.S. toll from the coronavirus will surpass 1 million. Through wave after wave, the virus has compiled a merciless chronology of loss — one by one by one. If losing one person leaves such a lasting void, consider all that’s been lost with the deaths of 1 million. From the first deaths on the West Coast to the soaring toll in New York, and then every place in between, the nation has been marked by unfathomable loss. COVID-19 has left an estimated 194,000 children in the U.S. without one or both of their parents. It has deprived communities of leaders, teachers and caregivers. It has robbed us of expertise and persistence, humor and devotion.
A million empty spaces: Chronicling COVID’s cruel US toll
