As Survivors Mourn the Nearly 300,000 Killed, They Also Honor the Nearly 16 Million Americans Who Have Contracted the Virus
On Wednesday, Georgia Members of COVID Survivors for Change Will Place 1,000 Empty Chairs in Front of State Capitol to Demand Change
NEW YORK – As the nation nears the grim milestone of 300,000 Americans dead from COVID-19, the non-partisan grassroots survivor network, COVID Survivors for Change, released the following statements.
“It’s like reliving my father’s death all over again every time I hear that someone else has died from COVID-19,” said Carol Lewis, a COVID Survivors for Change member in Georgia whose father died of COVID-19 at age 86. “My father embodied Christmas cheer in our family and to live through our first holiday season without him is a pain I wouldn’t wish on anyone. In honor of him and the 300,000 others killed by this pandemic, I am begging people to please be responsible for a few more months. The holiday gatherings you’re missing aren’t worth the risk.”
“It’s both traumatizing and heartbreaking to survive something like COVID-19, and then watch so many others still not taking it seriously,” said Perry Wheeler, a COVID Survivors for Change member from Baltimore, Maryland who contracted COVID-19 in September and is still struggling with long hauler symptoms. “I’ve stopped testing positive for COVID-19, but I still feel the virus in every shallow breath I take, and every time my racing heartbeat wakes me up at night. I’m angry that so many of us have experienced this terrifying virus firsthand, and heartbroken that so many of our nation’s leaders still choose to ignore this crisis.”
“This grave and horrifying milestone shows just how far some lawmakers are willing to go to ignore this pandemic,” said Chris Kocher, executive director of COVID Survivors for Change. “With a new administration around the corner, we’re hopeful that state leaders will follow the lead of the Biden-Harris team and encourage common sense. We owe it to the 300,000 people already taken by the pandemic to do all that we can to finally stop this crisis once and for all.”
About COVID Survivors for Change
COVID Survivors for Change is a national, non-partisan movement bringing together Americans who have lost a loved one to COVID-19, as well as those who have survived the virus and those whose lives have been dramatically altered by the pandemic. As part of COVID Survivors for Change, Americans are mobilizing to make sure that communities have the funding, resources and leadership in place to address future public health emergencies. Survivors will also find community and healing in meeting other people whose lives have been forever changed by the pandemic. For more information, please visit: covidsurvivorsforchange.org.
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