In its cruel aftermath, the disease that brought this barrage of death alters rituals of the grieving process. Families say goodbye by video, or in a brief moment at a hospital bed while dressed in personal protective equipment. Funerals are small and distanced.
Most people who contract COVID-19 will survive, and age and specific underlying conditions play a role in who is most likely to die. But for each death, there's a web of family and friends left mourning.
Sharing these losses is difficult for many of the bereaved; it can be therapeutic, though — a way to say goodbye, to honor and celebrate the people they loved.