Registered nurses gathered Tuesday in front of the White House to read the names of health-care workers who have died fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Wearing masks and standing six feet apart, the nurses held up photographs of the deceased as Melody Jones, a member of the National Nurses United union, addressed the news media in an otherwise empty Lafayette Square.
The names came from all over the country — New York and Alabama, Puerto Rico and Nevada, California and Michigan, Florida and Maryland, New Jersey and the District.
A man in blue scrubs stood behind Jones as she read, holding a metallic gold sign painted with the message: “20 seconds won’t scrub ‘hero’ blood off your hands.”
“Let us remember and honor the ultimate sacrifice these nurses paid,” Jones said before reading about 45 names, which she said is a partial list of those who have died. “We commit ourselves to fight like hell for the living.”