'If you don’t have an underlying health condition, it’s safe out there,” Governor Ducey told Arizonans in late May, hoping to stimulate the economy. Those words were a death sentence for Mark Urquiza, a healthy 65-year-young man from Arizona. He, like so many others, would not have died if American leaders hadn’t been so cavalier about reopening. Marked By COVID was founded by Mark’s daughter Kristin Urquiza -- with the help of friends and family -- when her dad passed away from the coronavirus following Governor Ducey’s downplay of the virus and subsequent rollback of Arizona’s shelter-in-place ordinance. The team wrote the first #HonestObit, invited the governor to her dad’s funeral, and held a vigil at the state capitol to honor Mark and inspire safer public health policies.

Today, Marked By COVID is a growing movement of individuals highlighting the true cost of the U.S. response: lives unnecessarily lost. Inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt and ACT UP, we aim to personify the coronavirus impact by asking families to share their stories and call out officials responsible for preventable deaths. We will hold politicians accountable through direct actions, including #HonestObits, vigils or spontaneous memorials (ofrendas), and more. Join us at MarkedByCOVID.com