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Covid-19: The dead finally talk!

Or rather, we make them talk. More precisely, we talk about them. We all know the numbers: 374,569 dead to date worldwide. But what do we know about them? Not much. In the media, all we learn about the victims is a number on a chart or a dot on a graph. And the commentary is much the same: numbers are up, or down, we are reaching the peak, the curve is flattening... but not a word about the people. For their families, these are fathers, mothers, sisters, cousins, grandfathers – real people made of flesh and blood. Human beings who lived, who loved, who suffered, who brought joy, who contributed to their community, who left memories, who had plans and dreams; in short, people who had a life, a whole life! This life cannot be reduced to a mere statistic, to a dot on a graph.

In Africa, the Senegalese government took the welcome initiative to announce deaths individually and pay condolences to the family. Some newspapers have taken other initiatives. The Eco di Bergamo in Italy, for example, has published obituaries – up to 10 pages long! – with photos of the victims of covid-19. For its part, the New York Times devoted the entire cover page of its May 24 edition to one thousand souls who died from the virus. Not just names but a few evocative words to give an idea of ​​what their lives were about.

There is still a long way to go before humans realize we are a single species, one and indivisible, past and present, universal stardust.

Benyounès

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