A memorial honoring the lives of New Yorkers lost to COVID-19 over the past year will be held on the one-year anniversary of the city's first reported COVID death.
The memorial event will be held March 14 at 7:45 p.m. during New York City's day of remembrance. Families are encouraged to submit names and photographs of loved ones to be memorialized. The city is accepting online submissions here.
The five boroughs were particularly hard hit by staggering human and financial loss. To city could reach 30,000 virus-related deaths in a matter of days, according to CDC data.
In his final COVID briefing of 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced March 14, 2021 will be a day of remembrance. The city's first COVID death was reported on March 14.
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"We need to recognize 25,000 of our fellow New Yorkers gone -- that's something we have to always mark going forward," de Blasio said. "We got to remember them by 1) being there for their families, by 2) honoring those who did so much to try to save them, and 3) by working to make this city better all the time in their memory."
The memorial will be live streamed on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
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To date, more than 527,000 have died and confirmed infections are nearing 30 million.
