1st. Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe East Boston, MA – 4/28/20 – During normal times, Joe Ruggiero Jr. might hold 25 funerals a month; this April there were 71. Due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, his familyÕs funeral home in East Boston is so overrun that the tribute lounge and cafe which normally serves as a place for mourners to collect themselves, has been turned into a makeshift storage space. A thin white sheet of plastic held together with binder clips is all that separates the hallway from the caskets. Funeral director Joe Ruggiero III, the second generation to run his family’s business, and apprentice funeral director Nick Verrocchi, (R) move a casket inside the makeshift storage area.
2nd. John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe Jamaica Plain 5/8/2020 As Mothers Day approached, long term care facilites tried to accomodate the many family members who wanted to be with their mothers. Some family members have not seen they loved ones in person since early late February. The Rogerson House in Jamaica Plain accommodated families that wanted to visit their mothers and grandmothers for Mothers Day. The residents of Rogerson House suffer from memory loss and Alzheimer’s. Lillian Zane, age 99 1/2 gets emotional as she blows a kiss to her son Peter Zane who is reflected in her first floor window.
3rd. John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe South Boston 06/02/2020 Oger Julien, 78 from Malden, gets applause from emotional nurses, doctors and staff as he was the last patient to leave Boston Hope hospital at the Boston Convention Center which treated hundreds of COVID-19 patients for several months at the height of the virus. He was transported to a rehab center by an awaitng ambulance.
HM1. Jim Davis / The Boston Globe Boston, MA: 03-16-20: Curt Newton is pictured on the drums as he and some of his neighbors get together and have a group sing a long (at a safe distance from each other) in their Jamaica Plain neighborhood at the intersection of Bourne Street and Catherine Street.They are doing something similar to what people in Italy have done in response to the coronavirus situation, trying to have a safe social interaction during the pandemic.
HM2. Allison Dinner / Freelance A Zoom funeral is held for a man in East Boston who died of COVID-19 while visiting from out of town. With no family or friends in the area, and the inability to ship a COVID-19 body there was no-one available for an in person funeral.
HM3. Barry Chin / The Boston Globe Boston, MA – 4/24/2020 – Boston police officer Omar Borges embraces his daughter as his wife kneels in prayer upon his release from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after a month-long battle with the novel coronavirus. Officer Borges spent a month intubated on a ventilator, hovering between life and death. The emotional reunion occurred just 10 days after the BPD mourned the death of colleague Jose Fernandez who tragically succumbed to COVID-19.
HM4. Barry Chin / The Boston Globe Brockton, MA – 10/23/2020 – Medical personnel conduct COVID-19 testing at a drive-thru coronavirus testing site on October 23, 2020 in the parking lot at Brockton high school in Brockton, MA.
HM5. Angela Rowlings / Freelance A Boston police officer salutes and Rosanda Landestoy is comforted by her granddaughter, Jhoely Mendes, 9, as they watch the procession of a hearse carrying the body of Boston Police Officer Jose Fontanez, who died following a battle with COVID-19, on April 16, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts.
HM6. Jessica Rinaldi / The Boston Globe Roslindale, MA – 3/24/20 – Kindergarten teacher Jamie Jones OBrien reads a children’s book to his students as he conducts a Zoom lesson from his living room as school remains closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus or COVID-19. Last week, when he first started, he had four students. Attendance improved to 9 students by Friday.
HM7. Erin Clark / The Boston Globe RANDOLPH, MA – 10/8/2020 10-year-old Yassiah Lopez participates in his Zoom class while he does remote learning from their Randolph home. Yassiah’s mother, Yahaira Lopez, was dismayed to see her 5th grade twin sons’ remote-learning schedules at Randolph Public Schools this fall included three days each week of almost entirely independent work on assignments, which she felt lacked enough time interacting or learning from a teacher and placed a significant burden on her. Now, her sons have transferred to a Boston charter school where they spend a full five days each week in virtual classes.
