January marks deadliest month of pandemic so far

January is the deadliest month for the coronavirus pandemic so far, with more than 80,000 people having lost their lives, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The number of people testing positive is still increasing as communities deal with loss and grief right here in Southwest Florida.

Before Rev. Rickey Anderson became a pastor, he was a mortician.

“What used to be most emotional for me was babies. I had a hard time embalming babies and doing baby funerals,” he said.

The reverend and founder of Followers of Christ Fellowship Ministries in Fort Myers never thought anything would be harder than that, but it turns out that pastoring in a pandemic comes pretty close.

“Behind closed doors, I am a strong man. But strong men cry.”

January has had the highest death toll yet from COVID-19, nationally, statewide and here in Southwest Florida, where 257 people have died from the virus this month.

Death is never a number, especially to a pastor – even if he used to be a mortician.

“Every person, every human being is valuable,” Anderson said.

“They don’t have the space for them, so they put them in trailers; funeral homes are running over with bodies. It’s um … a different world.”

Death used to bring people together to say goodbye. Now, death can be as lonely as life.

“We can’t fill up a church at a funeral,” the pastor said. “There’s no handshaking, hugging and all of that, it’s like we’re living on a different planet.”

Anderson’s heart aches when family has no last words. “Just to say, ‘Mama, I’m gonna miss you when you’re gone.”

The pastor’s prayer now is that faced with these sky-high numbers, we never forget the people those numbers represent.

“There’s nothing promised to us except for what we have right now.”

Anderson didn’t speak with WINK News to scare you or make you sad. He wanted to share the reality of what 257 of our neighbors have lived through during this pandemic.

His most important piece of advice: If someone you know loses someone, call them, don’t text. A kind voice goes so much further than some words on your phone.