The New York Times reported that at least 3,011 Americans died Wednesday, December 9, 2020, the most deaths in any single day of the pandemic. Over the past seven days, an average of 2,249 Americans have died from COVID-19 each day, the Times reported.
On September 11, 2001, 2,977 people died when terrorists crashed two commercial airliners into the Twin Towers. It is very possible that we will keep experiencing the carnage of a 9/11 every day as the numbers keep rising exponentially.
The U.S. also reached a record high Wednesday with more than 106,000 people hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
For 30 years, the World Trade Center Plaza showcased a 25-foot, bronze sculpture known as The Sphere sculpted by German artist Fritz Koening. The bronze sculpture took four years to create.
In the aftermath of the collapse of the towers, the sculpture was damaged but largely intact. It was carted away and stored at a JFK storage facility for a year. It was then moved to Battery Park along with an eternal flame. AS the memorial was built people kept petitioning to move the sculpture back to the World Trade Center site. in 2017 it was finally returned to a site outside the 9/11 memorial. Unfortunately the artist Fritz Koening had died earlier that year so he never got to see the sculpture’s return. The sculpture was not rebuilt or refurbished. It remains as a symbol of hope despite the scars of a horrific event. Hopefully we can also recover from the horror that COVID-19 continues to ravage on the county.