We all know this pandemic has taken many lives, and we are well-versed in all its impacts on our health. We also know about the victims who died of COVID, as they are reported daily. But today I would like to take a moment to make a list of the other victims of this pandemic. This incomplete list doesn’t take away from the tragedy of those who died of COVID and the pain of their families.
These victims are the products of this pandemic and our response, public and private, to it. Some of these tragedies are inevitable in a pandemic; others aren’t. While newspapers will write stories about some of them, they are rarely considered collectively. This is a small attempt to do that.
They are the small-business owners who have seen their businesses destroyed by the lockdowns. They are the owners of restaurants and small shops that never reopened, even when the lockdowns were partially lifted.
They are the small-business owners who don’t know how long they can survive with so few customers, but they know that they won’t survive another lockdown.
