Pandemic eases but memories still haunt

As the federal government declared this month that the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer a public health emergency in the US, New York, once the epicenter of the virus, is still dealing with the toll it took on residents.

More than 2 million New Yorkers suffered the death of a loved one attributed to COVID-19 within the first 16 months after the virus first hit the city.

At least 900,000 others lost at least three relatives or friends they were close to, data collected in mid-2021 for the New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey show.

Corky Lee, 73, a renowned photojournalist born and raised in Queens, New York, died from COVID-19 in January 2021.

The Asian American photographer spent decades documenting his community and its changes. This month, Google Doodle honored his work in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Lee is among an estimated 80,450 residents of New York who have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic in early March 2020 until May, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Half of those deaths occurred in New York City.

The deaths from the virus hit some communities harder than others. Several studies repeatedly showed that Hispanic and black people died from COVID-19 at higher levels than white people.

More than 5,200 Latinos in New York City died from COVID-19 up until May — according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene — higher than any other racial group.

The large number of deaths in those communities could be because many were essential workers.

Approximately 1.1 million people out of the city's 8.4 million residents were forced to go to work between March and June 2020 at the height of the spread of the virus, the survey showed. More than 800,000 of them were people of color.

Disparity in income

The data also show that a third of low-income workers had at least one relative die compared to just one-fourth of all other New Yorkers. An additional 16 percent of low-income workers lost three people they were close to, compared with 11 percent of all New Yorkers, the survey found.

Last year, COVID-19 was listed as the fourth leading cause of death in the US. It was the third leading cause of death in 2021 and 2022, data show.

"There's no doubt that we still must remain vigilant and take precautions, as I like to say we have to keep our guard up," William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, told China Daily. "COVID is not behind us. Yes, we have moved from the most intense pandemic phase where our healthcare system was almost paralyzed with COVID, to now a smoldering phase which we in public health call endemic."

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has also called on New Yorkers to "remain vigilant" against COVID-19.

This year, nearly 35,000 people nationwide have died from COVID-19, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.