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As Americans Observe Memorial Day, The U.S Inches Towards A Grim COVID-19 Milestone

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Tomorrow on Memorial Day, the United States will probably reach 100,000 deaths in the current pandemic. It's a staggering, incomprehensible number, more than the nation lost in the Vietnam and Korean wars combined. Yet a pandemic isn't a war. The horrors of the battlefield are unique, and the fighters who fall there deserve the moment of honor and reflection we give them tomorrow. But there are echoes of wartime struggles in a pandemic, fear as we face harm and struggle, especially the real physical struggle of those who fall ill. We haven't been talking about things like ventilators recently, but there are people on them fighting to breathe, now in places like Montgomery, Ala., where the ICUs are full this weekend. There is also in this pandemic sacrifice. Forty million people are jobless, another staggering incomprehensible number. But there is also hope. New York state, the hardest hit by the pandemic, has seen its deaths plummet to below 100 a day from over a thousand. The lesson - a shared sense of duty to wear a mask, to keep our distance, to be mindful of the people and communities who are particularly vulnerable and to keep them from being needlessly in harm's way can save lives. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.