On Oct. 4, people who contracted and survived COVID-19 and families of those who died set up 20,000 empty chairs in a park across from the White House to acknowledge the nearly 210,000 people in the U.S. who have died from the disease, CNN reports.
Covid Survivors for Change, a group of COVID-19 survivors and the families of those who succumbed to the disease, declared Oct. 4 a national day of remembrance for those who've died and organized the event. People shared stories of how the new virus has affected their lives.
"We are living through this collective national trauma — we're six months into the pandemic and still sort of reeling from it," Chris Kocher, founder of COVID Survivors for Change told CNN. "A big part of compounding people's grief ... is the lack of acknowledgment, lack of recognition."
The display of chairs was set up by volunteers to represent " the sheer volume of loss," Mr. Kocher said, according to CNN.
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