Saturday, March 27, will mark exactly one year since the first COVID-19-related death in London-Middlesex and Mayor Ed Holder is encouraging residents to remember all 185 lives lost in the last year.
Holder is asking residents to turn on a porch or balcony light, or to place a light in a window, in remembrance of those who have died as a result of the pandemic.
People are also encouraged to share their tribute on social media using #LdnOntRemembers.
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“Many of them died alone and many of them died when their families couldn’t be around them to support them. And so how appropriate is it that we reach out, that we commemorate them, that we put London’s collective arms around the families of those individuals who died as a result of COVID,” Mayor Ed Holder told Global News.
“We want them to know that London mourns with them and we haven’t forgotten them.”
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In addition, the flag outside of London City Hall will be lowered to half-mast on Saturday.
The first COVID-19-related death in the region involved a 74-year-old man on March 27, 2020. At the time, the health unit had said he had returned from Portugal earlier that month.
The man initially tested positive for COVID-19 on March 19, 2020, at the London Health Sciences Centre.
Since his death, another 184 lives have been lost in the region due to the pandemic.
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