Sacred Heart University (SHU) held a memorial service to remember the lives lost to COVID-19 in Connecticut. With more than 7,000 coronavirus-associated deaths since the onset of the pandemic, the memorial service was held to remember the lives lost as more than just a statistic.
The names were read aloud one by one, going from town to town, and spanning several hours.
Today we remembered the lives of the Connecticut residents and the family members of our Sacred Heart community who lost their lives to COVID-19. We pray for all those affected. #WeAreSHU pic.twitter.com/fwOYs5Yc1X
— Sacred Heart University (@sacredheartuniv) February 15, 2021
President of the University, Dr. John Petillo, reflected on the enormous impact the coronavirus has had on victims’ loved ones.
“A lot of these people’s families, a hug, an embrace is only going to be a memory now. The empty chair at home that was filled with life and laughter is no longer,” he said.
First Selectman of Fairfield, Brenda Kupchick, was also present at the memorial service.
Honored to be asked by @SHUprez to participate in today’s #COVID19 memorial organized by @sacredheartuniv with the Fairfield delegation @CMcCarthyVahey @tonyhwang @ldevlinct @jennleeper prayers for strength for their families and friends❤️ pic.twitter.com/63SnpSv5jx
— Brenda Kupchick (@BrendaKupchick) February 15, 2021
Connecticut Dedicated to Managing COVID Cases
Connecticut is currently working on mitigating transmission of the virus and its variants, recently announcing the first confirmed case of a relatively rare and slightly more contagious variant of COVID-19 originally detected in South Africa. The South African strain was detected in a Fairfield County resident who did not have a recent history of travel.
In addition, the state has also uncovered 42 out of the 1,173 confirmed cases of the UK coronavirus variant.
Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, highlighted the urgency for everyone to follow social distancing measures as part of a collective effort to control the pandemic to The CT Mirror.
“Seeing another variant in our state reminds us yet again the severity of this pandemic and reinforces the need for us to take all of the necessary precautions which have proven to be successful over the past year,” he said.