Mayor Bill de Blasio declared Thursday that March 14 is the anniversary of COVID-19 in New York City.
The city reported its first coronavirus death on March 14, 2020, and the event will recognize all the people who have since died from the bug.
The city’s health department reports that 25,099 deaths were linked by Big Apple to COVID-19.
Of these, 20,295 deaths were confirmed as a result of the virus, while 4,804 other deaths were considered ‘probable’ COVID-19 cases.
De Blasio said residents of “every background” were affected, but noted that the disease particularly affected the city’s poorest minority neighborhood.
“So much of what we lost was victims of inequality … victims of too much racism,” the mayor said during his year-end press exam.
