- The Boston Globe printed 16 pages of obituaries on Sunday, far more than it usually carries, the paper reported in an article on the section.
- Although it is not possible to know which deaths are as a result of the coronavirus, at the same time a year earlier the death notices ran to just seven pages, according to The Globe.
- Readers remarked on the section, just as readers of an Italian paper, L’Eco di Bergamo, did when its own death notices section expanded massively at the height of that country’s crisis.
- Massachusetts is the third most-affected state in the US, with 38,077 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,706 dead, according to The Guardian.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The Boston Globe’s obituary section ran to 16 pages on Sunday in a sobering reminder of the onset of the coronavirus in Massachusetts, the paper reported.
For the same time last year, the section was just seven pages, said the paper. But as the virus continued its spread in the state, by Sunday 12 April it had grown to 10 pages – the same number as appeared in a Lombardy paper, L’Eco di Bergamo, at the height of the Italian crisis.
The death notices of today's Sunday @BostonGlobe are 11 pages long. #COVID19 #Massachusetts pic.twitter.com/dxLobUKSwh
— Julio Ricardo Varela (@julito77) April 12, 2020
A week later on April 20, the section grew to 16 pages. In an article about the expanded section, the Globe called its death notices "a stark reminder of the death toll that COVID-19 is taking on the state."
Massachusetts is the third worst-affected state in the US for the virus, with 38,077 confirmed cases and a death toll of 1,706, according to The Guardian.
"We're right in the middle of the surge now," said Gov. Charlie Baker on CBS News' Face the Nation, outlining plans for contact tracing in the state and collaborating with other northeastern states in its coronavirus response.
The Globe's obituary section stood in stark parallel to that of L'Eco Di Bergamo, from just over one month ago on March 14, as Italy approached the peak of its own coronavirus curve.
In that paper in Lombardy, the worst-affected region in the country, the section that was ordinarily around just a page and a half long had grown to 10 pages, as Business Insider reported.
The names in the Globe's Sunday edition came from all over the state, and the cause of death was not listed in all of them, the paper reported. However, "several of the death notices mentioned a battle with COVID-19," said the paper.
15 pages of death notices in today’s @BostonGlobe. I’ve never seen that before. pic.twitter.com/Gu4KNIQbDz
— Delia (@DeliaCabe) April 19, 2020
Readers have begun to take notice of the section. Media director Julio Ricardo Varela posted a video on Twitter tweet of him leafing through 10 pages of obituaries from its April 12 edition.
Massachusetts has implemented a broad lockdown in which people are strongly advised to stay home as much as possible, with nonessential businesses and restaurants only allowed to offer collection, according to The Wall Street Journal. Gatherings in confined spaces are limited to 10 people, and beach gatherings are not allowed, said the paper.