10,000 white flags honor the lives of Georgians lost to COVID-19

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    ATLANTA (WGCL) — It’s an eye-opening view. A sea of white flags took over Piedmont Park – 10,000 to be exact – honoring the lives of each Georgian lost to COVID-19.

“It’s hard to grasp,” said one visitor, Joseph Fitzgerald.

Sunday afternoon, local activists and COVID-19 survivors planted 10,000 white flags in the meadow at Piedmont Park.

“Each of these flags representing a human being, someone’s mother or father or spouse,” said Mary Baron, a visitor.

The Georgia Department of Public Health shows nearly 10,000 Georgians have died from COVID-19, and the number of cases aren’t slowing down.

“10,000 Georgians who were loved and needed and taken from their community,” said Tim Franzen, with the American Friends Service Committee, “10,000 is a lot of flags, man.”

Organizers said the flags are a symbol of the need for a better government response to the pandemic.

“ER nurses come out and several folks who work at the CDC come out and encourage,” Franzen added.

Each one representing a life lost.

“By seeing it like this, in such a good visual display, it might have an impact on people, and it might make them stop and think a little bit,” Baron said.

Activists said they hope this display also brings attention to the devastating economic impact that COVID-19 has had on the community and the country, and the desperate needed for medical and economic aid.

“We need less folks trying to make this into a partisan issue, and more folks reaching across the aisle to find solutions to keep Georgians alive,” added Franzen.

The hope is that soon enough, no one has to plant another flag.

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