Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long, Dr. Karyl Rattay, Delaware Division of Public Health,  members of the General Assembly, National and Local Community Partners in partnership with the Yellow Heart Memorial, and COVID Survivors for Change will hold a COVID-19 Remembrance Memorial Ceremony to remember and honor the lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the survivors and the front-line public health and health care workers in Delaware.

Dover, Del. – Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long, a nurse and professor of nursing, will be joined by the Division of Public Health, Yellow Heart Memorial, COVID Survivors for Change and Delaware families to hold a memorial for the many victims of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the event, a memorial tree and plaque will be unveiled and the Yellow Heart Memorial will provide hearts for loved ones to fill out for their lost family members. 

Lieutenant Governor Hall-Long will join in remembering the many Delawareans who lost their battle with COVID, as well as the families impacted by those losses, on May 3, 2022, at 1:00 p.m., at an in-person memorial at the Delaware Division of Public Health’s Jesse Cooper Campus, located at 417 Federal Street in Dover, Delaware. We hope you will join us in remembering the 2,896 parents, siblings, and children who were lost to the pandemic. 

“As a nurse who joined many of our courageous health care workers to test and vaccinate Delawareans during the pandemic, I was able to witness firsthand the impact that COVID-19 had on our families across the state,” said Lt. Governor Hall-Long, Ph.D., R.N. “Many of our friends and neighbors have suffered a tremendous loss – their loved ones. Many are still suffering from the effects of surviving COVID-19 as well. I look forward to this opportunity to join, thank and honor all of these individuals and the public health and health care workers who continue to save lives and give us hope.” 

The Division of Public Health played a critical role in combating COVID. “I am honored to join the families as we remember the lives that were lost during the COVID pandemic, and all those who continue to be impacted by this life-changing pandemic,” said Dr. Karyl Rattay, Director of the Division of Public Health. “Our state’s public health and health care workforce worked tirelessly around the clock to help test, distribute information, vaccinate, educate, and provide care to all Delawareans, and they are still working to ensure that Delawareans are safe and well despite the health crisis, often sacrificing their own mental health and well-being in the process. I hope this ceremony will be the start of healing for many.” 

“Our loved ones are not just a number. Their memories will live on through us. We are their voices, we are their legacies,” said Rosie Davis with the Yellow Heart Memorial. 

“My dad was 1 of 2,896 Delawareans and almost 1 million Americans who needlessly lost their lives to Covid,” said Charonda Johnson, Strategic Partnerships Manager, for COVID Survivors for Change.  

“I’m honored to partner with Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long, the Delaware Division of Public Health, and the Yellow Heart Memorial as we remember those who still suffer from the long-term impacts of COVID and those who have died. It’s critical for us to rebuild our community through empathy and work to ensure that the deaths of our loved ones were not in vain.”  

Lt. Governor Hall-Long and her community partners also will unveil a tree provided by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control at the Division of Public Health’s Jesse Cooper Building in Dover to remember and honor the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide a place of peace for public health and health care workers to heal. A memorial website is also being developed.  

Anyone who wishes to have their loved one remembered, recognize a COVID-19 survivor, or lift up an individual for their service by having their name included on a yellow heart can do so in advance at de.gov/covidmemorial or in person prior to the start of the ceremony. 

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