
With 4 Million COVID Dead, Many Kids Left Behind
Voice of America
Some won't ever remember the parents they lost because they were too young when COVID-19 struck. Others are trying to keep the memory alive by doing the things they used to do together: making pancakes or playing guitar. Others still are clutching onto what remains, a pillow or a photo, as they adapt to lives with aunts, uncles and siblings stepping in to fill the void.
The 4 million people who have died so far in the coronavirus pandemic left behind parents, friends and spouses — but also young children who are navigating life now as orphans or with just one parent, who is also mourning the loss. It's a trauma that is playing out in big cities and small villages across the globe, from Assam state in northeast India to New Jersey and points in between. And even as vaccination rates tick up, the losses and generational impact show no sign of easing in many places where the virus and its variants continue to kill. As the official COVID-19 death toll reached its latest grim milestone this week, South Korea reported its biggest single-day jump in infections and Indonesia counted its deadliest day of the pandemic so far.
Callum Ganz, 17, center, gives a pre-show pep talk to castmates in 'Crazy for You' on opening night as the Theatre Palisades Youth group returns to the stage after losing their theater in the Palisades fire, in Los Angeles, Feb. 28, 2025. A Theatre Palisades stands next to the theater destroyed by the Palisades Fire, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif., Jan. 25, 2025.

Staff at the Mission Control outside Austin, Texas celebrating as lunar lander Blue Ghost touches down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP) Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)

Staff at the Mission Control outside Austin, Texas celebrating as lunar lander Blue Ghost touches down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP) Private lunar lander Blue Ghost after touching down on the moon with a special delivery for NASA, March 2, 2025. (NASA/Firefly Aerospace via AP)

FILE- Washington Attorney General Nick Brown walks down the steps of a federal court in Seattle after a hearing over President Donald Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth, Feb. 28, 2025. FILE -Washington Attorney General Nick Brown listens to a question during a news conference after a hearing in federal court in Seattle, Feb. 28, 2025, over President Donald Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth. FILE - Supporters listen as Washington Attorney General Nick Brown responds to questions at a news conference after a hearing in a federal court in Seattle over President Donald Trump's order against gender-affirming care for youth, Feb. 28, 2025.