The statement below is by Commissioner Cappelli regarding the United States reaching 500,000 deaths due to COVID-19.

“More than 500,000 Americans have lost their lives due to COVID-19 and I suspect that many of us, having never experienced anything like this in our lifetime, have only just begun to process the true toll of this pandemic.

Since December, I’ve pointed to the disjointed reality we are now living, one where the good news and bad news seem to come and change so quickly that it is difficult to fully understand the situation we face. Vaccinations, the key to beating this pandemic, are finally underway and are cause for celebration, and yet we have faced more loss in the past three months than at any other point during this crisis.

Because the pandemic continues to pose such an existential threat, we have not had an opportunity to gather and honor those who have been taken, but they remain in our hearts, our thoughts, and our prayers, nonetheless. Until our pre-pandemic normal returns, we can still honor the legacy of those we have lost by taking extra precautions and fighting to ensure that not a single additional person loses their life to this disease.”