The Covid-19 public health emergency is over, but tales of loss remain. This website offers the bereaved a digital safe space

Much of society has moved on from the pandemic that began four years ago. But for some, the grief of a Covid-19-related loss still lingers.

Four years ago, Jody Settle and his partner toasted over Guinness beers and a takeout meal they had picked up from a normally bustling Irish pub in New York City left deserted by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the last St. Patrick’s Day meal the couple would share. Settle, 58, died from the virus 33 days later, on April 19, 2020, one of nearly 1.2 million people in the United States who have succumbed to Covid-19 since 2020. Ed Koenig, Settle’s longtime partner, remembers Settle’s peaceful face as he visited him in the hospital for the last time. Willie Nelson’s version of “Always On My Mind” played nearby as Koenig kissed Settle’s forehead through his protective gear. A year ago, the World Health Organization declared an end to Covid-19 as a global public health emergency. The United States allowed its own public health emergency to expire nearly a week after the WHO’s announcement. Stay-at-home orders have long ended, and much of society has moved on from the pandemic. But Covid-19-related grief lingers for millions.