As the U.S. is about to hit 100,000 Coronavirus fatalities mark and President Donald Trump made himself busy with a golf club during the crisis, the New York Times filled its entire front page of Sunday's paper with death notices of the COVID-19 victims in the country along with a headline that says "U.S. DEATHS NEAR 100,000, AN INCALCULABLE LOSS."
The newspaper stated that the intention is to convey the vastness and variety of the tragedy and the front page of Sunday's edition includes the names and personal details of the Coronavirus victims, taken from obituaries around the US. In a sub-headline the newspaper added that "They were not simply names on a list. They were us."
U.S. Coronavirus
Even though the U.S. death toll stands at more than 97,000, as per some experts the death toll in the U.S. is worse than our knowledge as many infected people have died at home or weren't counted for other reasons. Simone Landon, an assistant editor of the Times' Graphics desk, said, "We knew that there should be some way to try to reckon with that number" and added that the project is also a response to "a little bit of fatigue."
The New York Times collected these names of the COVID-19 victims and their stories across the U.S. While describing the list on Sunday's front page the newspaper stated "The 1,000 people here reflect just 1 percent of the toll," adding that "None were mere numbers."
The names and the stories
The Sunday's front page has listed several victim's names including these stories-
A 92-year-old woman Angeline Michalopulos, "was never afraid to sing or dance."
Lila Fenwick, 87, was "the first black woman to graduate from Harvard Law."
An elderly victim Romi Cohn, 91, "saved 56 Jewish families from the Gestapo."
Another COVID-19 victim April Dunn, 33, was an "advocate for disability rights."
The 60-year-old Frank Gabrin, was an "emergency room doctor who died in his husband's arms."
A five-year-old Skylar Herbert was "Michigan's youngest victim of the Coronavirus pandemic."
Philip Kahn, 100, "World War II veteran whose twin died in the Spanish Flu epidemic a century ago."
When the news reached netizens, the name of the newspaper started trending on Twitter, while many people criticized Trump. Some of them also noticed seven Oklahomans, many victim's names from the Tulsa area in the list which includes:
"Ordained minister. Merle C. Dry, Tulsa, Okla."
"Helped establish many credit unions. Charles Donald Neal Sr., 91, Broken Arrow, Okla."
"Spent countless hours coaching baseball in Bartlesville. Malcolm C. Shaw Jr., 77, Bartlesville, Okla."
"Brother of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Donald Reed Herring, 86, Norman, Okla."
