Los Angeles County health officials launched a one-day Twitter campaign Thursday to remind residents of the toll of the coronavirus and pay tribute to those who lost their lives amid the pandemic.
"We want to highlight the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our community; more than 10,000 people passing away this year, and all were loved by and loved others,'' the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced Thursday.
The department launched the "#Every10Minutes'' campaign at midnight Wednesday, and sent a new tweet every 10 minutes until midnight Thursday, with a brief description of someone who died in the county this year from COVID-19.
A sampling of the tweets:
-- "The old time surfer who always talked about that one wave he rode.''
-- "The nurse who handed out lollipops - even to the adults.''
-- "The big rig driver who always honked the horn when kids signaled for it."
-- "The football coach that talked about the importance of discipline."
-- "The sanitation worker who waved to all the little boys going through the trash truck phase."
-- "A graduate student with asthma.''
-- "The hardware store owner who opened back up even though he closed 5 minutes ago.''
-- "A construction worker with 4 daughters and their first grandchild on the way.''
-- "A school security guard that kept kids on the right path.''
-- "The corner store owner that let you pay later if you were short a few bucks.''
-- "The Lakers fan who told stories about seeing Magic and Kareem at the Forum.''
-- "A graduate.''
-- "A new dad.''
-- "A care taker.''
-- "A wife.''
As of the end of 2020, Los Angeles County had identified 770,602 positive cases of COVID-19 and 10,345 fatalities. Those numbers do not include Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health departments.
"Please stay home. Please physically distance. Please wear a face covering when outside. Slow the spread. Save a life,'' the department said.
Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that the campaign began and ended Thursday.
