New York Times devotes front page to listing a thousand coronavirus victims

The arresting front page also included detail about each of the 1,000 victims, representing approximately one per cent of the country's total death toll.

The New York Times front page. Source: The New York Times

The New York Times has published a front-page without any images for the first time "in modern times" to mark the approaching milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States.

One thousand COVID-19 victims were named across the front page and inside the paper - representing just one per cent of the current death toll - on Sunday, to mark the "vastness and the variety of lives lost".

Researchers and editors at the newspaper scoured obituaries and death notices of the people who had died as a result of the virus and selected a line for each victim represented.

“Lila A. Fenwick, 87, New York City, first black woman to graduate from Harvard Law School," one example of 1,000 read. 

“Joe Diffie, 62, Nashville, Grammy-winning country music star," read another.

As of Sunday afternoon, just over 97,000 Americans had died as a result of coronavirus, according to a tally kept by John Hopkins University, approximately 60,000 thousand more than the United Kingdom, which has the second-highest death toll.

The country has so far confirmed a total of 1.6 million cases and will likely hit the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths within days.

Marc Lacey, the paper's national editor, said: "I wanted something that people would look back on in 100 years to understand the toll of what we're living through."

Across the country, lockdown measures are slowly easing as President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted "transition to greatness", his slogan for reopening the US.

People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits. Testing for coronavirus is now widely available across Australia. If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.

The federal government's coronavirus tracing app COVIDSafe is available for download from your phone's app store.

SBS is committed to informing Australia’s diverse communities about the latest COVID-19 developments. News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus.