A public memorial Friday, June 11, will be dedicated to the nearly 5,100 Orange County residents who have died of COVID-19 since early 2020.
The candlelight remembrance will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. by the lake behind the Avenue of the Arts Costa Mesa, Tribute Portfolio Hotel, 3350 Avenue of the Arts. The hotel is across from the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
OC Second District Supervisor Katrina Foley said she and her staff helped put the event together as “a way for us to recognize and honor those that lost their lives, and as we move into the next phase, transition into the reopening of the state and the county, but not forget about those people we lost here – our neighbors.”
The event will include musicians, a soloist and several speakers, including a healthcare professional and representatives of unions whose members are essential workers – they were especially hard hit by the pandemic.
People attending are invited to bring a flower or photo of a loved one they lost to COVID-19.
As of Thursday, a reported 5,092 OC residents had died since the start of the pandemic. Since a peak of 1,552 deaths in one month, January, coronavirus-related deaths have dramatically slowed – but they haven’t ceased, with 14 deaths in May and one reported this month so far.
Foley said she was inspired to organize Friday’s event after attending a recent memorial for nurses and hearing from a health care workers union.
“There’s a sense,” she said, “that we never kind of got closure on this phase of history in Orange County.”
