Salem Together: One Year of COVID-19
Dear Salem resident,
One year ago today, March 19 2020, we received confirmation of the first three cases of COVID-19 here in Salem. Since that date more than 4,200 of our neighbors have become sick from the virus and, sadly, 78 of them have died from it.
As a community, we should be proud of how Salem pulled together over the last 12 months of this crisis. From food and housing assistance, to emergency public health measures; from volunteer community outreach, to business recovery efforts; from innovative testing in our neighborhoods and our schools, to pursuing greater vaccine access, our city has consistently risen to the challenges that this pandemic brought to our door.
Today, one year in, hope is on the horizon. More than half of Salem residents who lost their jobs because of the pandemic are now back to work. One in four Salem residents have received the COVID vaccine and, thankfully, those numbers are increasing daily.
We aren’t going to let up now.
And we aren’t going to forget the lives lost.
78 of our neighbors were stolen from us by COVID. On April 4th—the anniversary of the first of those deaths—we invite all Salem residents who may know or lost someone to this virus, to join us in placing a light in a window of their house where everyone can see it. At City Hall, we’ll have one light in our front windows for each person that our community lost. Later this spring we’ll announce details about a more permanent memorial plan that will celebrate the memory of those taken from us by COVID.
Early in the pandemic, when we launched the Salem Together volunteer initiative, I said that Salem—as it has throughout its history—was united in the face of adversity. We support and care for each other always.
This may have been a year without precedent, but it’s not been a year without hope.
Volunteers delivering meals to homebound seniors and the sick. Church and neighborhood groups making masks for those who need them. Local institutions offering temporary housing and quarantine space. Residents volunteering to make thousands of well-being calls to Salem seniors. Small business owners pivoting and supporting their employees. City and school staff going above and beyond their normal jobs to help those in need. Medical retirees and students volunteering for testing and vaccine clinics.
It has not been easy, but we have not been alone on this journey.
We can look back on this past year with sorrow–and certainly a measure of exhaustion–but not without pride, too. Pride in how we came together, lifted each other up, and always, always, cared for one another.
We’ll get all the way through this Salem, together.
Kim Driscoll, Mayor