Boston Globe prints 15 pages of obituaries in its Sunday issue

The Boston Globe newspaper’s obituary section spanned a devastating 15 pages in its Sunday edition, as Massachusetts reels from the coronavirus crisis with more than 36,000 cases.

Massachusetts has the third greatest coronavirus breakout in the country with more than 1,560 deaths reported so far.

While not all the deaths that filled Sunday’s Boston Globe issue were virus-related, there has been a stunning spikes in deaths in the state as a result of the pandemic.

‘Never in my life have I seen the obituary listings take up almost a whole page. I can’t imagine what NY and NJ papers look like,’ one Twitter user said, sharing photos of the hefty paper. 

The Boston Globe newspaper printed 15 pages of obituaries in its Sunday edition as Massachusetts reels from over 36,000 cases of COVID-19

A view of the Boston Globe’s obituary pages printed in Sunday’s issue pictured above

Twitter users shared the astonishingly lengthy obituary section online noting the impact of the coronavirus crisis

Nathaniel Mulcahy tweeted Sunday that the obituary section was a terrifying echo to the crisis in Italy, where a local paper in Bergamo saw its obituary section expand dramatically due to the crisis

‘A month ago a video from Bergamo Italy showed page after page of obituaries … Boston Globe Obituaries April 19, 2020 15 Pages. And we are not yet at the point on the curve that Bergamo was when the video was made,’ Twitter user Nathaniel Mulcahy tweeted Sunday. 

The Boston Globe’s growing obituary pages is a terrifying echo to the 10 full pages of obituaries documented in Italian newspaper L’Eco di Bergamo that circulated in the hard-hit Lombardy region last month. 

Video emerged on March 13 of an Italian man highlighting the impact of the coronavirus outbreak that caused the local newspaper’s obituary section to dramatically expand. At that time there were 17,600 cases in 1,266 deaths.

Last Sunday the Globe’s death notices in the paper spanned 11 pages, prompting one reader to tweet: ‘I’ve never seen this in the paper.’

On Sunday April 21 last year the obituaries section of the paper spanned six pages.

Last week, Globe reader journalist Julio Ricardo Varela shared a video solemnly flipping through the extensive death notice pages.

He noted that the notices included the names of people from other states and even overseas deaths in Greece and Venezuela. 

Never ending pages: One Twitter user took photos of the tragic obituary pages on Sunday

Last Sunday’s paper’s obituary section spanned 11 pages meaning the number of deaths in the Boston area is only mounting

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said Sunday he fears that the outbreak in the hotspot will get worse from here.

‘We’re in a very different place here in Massachusetts than other states are. We’re right in the middle of the surge now,’ Baker said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday morning.  

On Saturday, 156 new deaths were reported from COVID-19 and 2,000 new cases of the virus were reported. 

He urged the US government to keep lockdown orders in place, saying the state will benefit if the Trump administration puts its ‘foot on the accelerator’ and ramps up testing for coronavirus.

‘We’re in a very different place here in Massachusetts than other states are. We’re right in the middle of the surge now,’ Baker said on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday

‘In order for us to get back on our feet and start thinking about reopening, we have got to have better knowledge, and better understanding, and support for people who are dealing with this virus and people who come in close contact with [them],’ Baker said.

Massachusetts is part of a coalition of northeastern states working to keep the area locked down.

‘I don’t want Massachusetts to do something that makes life incredibly complicated for New York, or New Jersey, or New Hampshire, or Vermont. And I certainly don’t want them to do something that creates issues and problems in Massachusetts,’ he said.