Learning how to mourn during a pandemic
This is part of our Coronavirus Update series in which Harvard specialists in epidemiology, infectious disease, economics, politics, and other disciplines offer insights into what the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak may bring. As the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic grows, so does our grief — and our need to process it. But like so much upended by the coronavirus, social distancing is forcing a change to our ways of mourning. With everything from hugs to funerals now forbidden or unrecognizable, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health online forum on Wednesday focused on “How the Discomfort of Grief Can Help Us: Recognizing and Adapting to Loss During the COVID-19 Outbreak.” “Losses are ubiquitous in a world closed down by the virus,” said Christy Denckla, a research associate in epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School. “The scope of this loss is truly global and unprecedented.” In addition to the accumulating...