Detroit officials are hosting a socially distant city-wide memorial today (Mon) for victims of the coronavirus.
The service is to honor Detroiters who have lost their lives to COVID-19. Processions of cars will follow 15 empty hearses around Belle Isle.
Rochelle Riley is the Director of Arts and Culture for the City of Detroit and the lead organizer for the service. She says she hopes the memorial will open some people’s eyes to the reality of the pandemic.
“Unlike war, where you see flag-draped coffins coming off of planes / people are dying in silence and dying away from their families," said Riley. "And I don't think people really understand that 1500 people in the City of Detroit have been taken by this virus.”
Hundreds of billboard-sized portraits of the deceased will also be set up around the island. Belle Isle is closed to the public today (Mon) but the portraits will be on display for the public tomorrow (Tues) and Wednesday.