The grief crisis is coming.
 | By Alexandra Sifferlin Senior Staff Editor, Opinion |
Over 560,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 so far. Such a massive human cost will be felt for generations. As Allison Gilbert, a grief expert, writes today, the nation needs to prepare to support the husbands, wives, children and friends who were left behind. |
Efforts to count the bereaved are just beginning. As Gilbert reports, researchers at Pennsylvania State University recently built a Covid-19 Bereavement Multiplier which suggests that for every person who dies, nine loved ones are left grieving. To reach this figure, the experts included losses of spouses, siblings, parents, children and grandparents. If other relationships like extended relatives and friends are added, the number of people grieving balloons. |
The impact of grief on the health of the living is well-established and includes short-term effects such as loss of sleep and long-term effects including depression and anxiety. |
Because of these predicted costs, grief experts are calling the number of bereaved a public health crisis, and are demanding a national response to address the toll. One suggestion that Gilbert supports is the creation of a White House office of bereavement that could provide resources and compensation to people grieving after tragedy, whether it's the loss of a loved one to the coronavirus or loss from other tragedies like gun violence. |
Already, there are signals that policies to better support the bereaved are coming. Beginning today, people who paid for the funeral expenses of someone who died from Covid-19 can apply for up to $9,000 in reimbursement, through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. |
There's no amount of money that can cancel out the suffering caused by the loss of a loved one, especially from a virus that leaders allowed to spread out of control. But there's a responsibility to try to make amends and quell further pain. It's the least that can be done. |
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