An image from 2020’s Mask Parade, a curation of face masks made by 27 different artists, at First Hill’s Museum of Museums

Plans are being put in motion for a memorial to lives lost to COVID-19 in King County.

As of this week, 1,974 people have died here since the start of the pandemic in 2020. Deaths continue. The county says in recent weeks around three people suffer COVID related deaths here every day, a rate that has remained unfortunately steady through the early fall.

Under legislation proposed by King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn, the county’s 4Culture agency would help develop a report by next summer with potential locations for the memorial, as well as costs and possible sources of funding and donors.

“Nearly 2,000 of our residents have lost their lives to COVID-19 to-date, bringing great tragedy to communities across King County,” Dunn said in an announcement of the legislation. “This memorial would preserve for posterity a consequential chapter in King County’s history while honoring every person who has passed away to COVID-19 and those who mourn them.”

While Seattle is home to nearly a third of the county’s total population, only 25% of its pandemic deaths have occurred here. The county’s rural east and, especially, its lower income south have been hit disproportionately by the ongoing crisis.

If the legislation is approved, a report on the memorial plan would be due back to the County Council by July 1, 2022.

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