Salem Coronavirus Victim Memorials Planned

SALEM, MA — Salem residents are asked to put a light in the window in honor of the city's coronavirus victims on April 4 with a more permanent memorial planned to honor the 78 residents who died during the pandemic.

Mayor Kim Driscoll said over the year of the health crisis 4,200 city residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, including the 78 deaths. The first three cases were confirmed in the city on March 19, 2020.

"As a community, we should be proud of how Salem pulled together over the last 12 months of this crisis," Driscoll said in a message to the community. "From food and housing assistance, to emergency public health measures, from volunteer community outreach, to business recovery efforts, from innovative testing in our neighborhoods and our schools, to pursuing greater vaccine access, our city has consistently risen to the challenges that this pandemic brought to our door."

On April 4 — the anniversary of the first of the city's 78 deaths — residents are asked to put a light in their windows to honor coronavirus victims. Driscoll said there will be lights in City Hall windows for each of the victims and that later in the spring plans for a more permanent memorial will be announced.

Driscoll noted that 25 percent of city residents had been vaccinated for the coronavirus as of March 19, while she said more than half of residents who lost jobs during the early part of the pandemic are back to work.

"We aren't going to let up now," she said. "And we aren't going to forget the lives lost."

Driscoll said that while this was a "year without precedent" it was not "a year without hope."

"It has not been easy, but we have not been alone on this journey," she said. "We can look back on this past year with sorrow — and certainly a measure of exhaustion — but not without pride, too. Pride in how we came together, lifted each other up, and always, always cared for one another."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)