Mayor Fischer declares 'Day of Remembrance' for COVID-19 victims as Louisville now 'in the green'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For the first time in two years, Louisville is in the green when it comes to COVID-19 cases.

Dr. Sarah Moyer, the city's chief health strategist, made the announcement during a news conference Tuesday at City Hall, her first in-person COVID-19 news conference at City Hall since the pandemic began.

Last week, there were only 1,055 new COVID-19 cases in Jefferson County.

The announcement was greeted by applause.

Pictured: Dr. Sarah Moyer, Louisville's Chief Health Strategist, during a COVID media briefing in Louisville, Ky., on March 15, 2022.

"It's been a really long two years, but I'm really proud of what we did as a community," Moyer said, noting that, two years ago, she was on the stage teaching proper handwashing technique at the beginning of the pandemic, and organizers were announcing the cancellation of the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

This year's parade took place, in person, last week.

"Two years later, we are back here, vaccinated, boosted and wearing green again," Moyer said.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is encouraging Louisville residents to wear green Friday, March 18, which he has declared a Day of Remembrance of the 2,100 Jefferson County residents who have died from the virus over the last two years.

"No question, our lives have been altered these past two years because of this dastardly virus," Fischer said.

He recalled "a very, very terrifying time" for him personally at the outset of the pandemic, when his wife, Dr. Alexandra Gerassimides, contracted COVID-19.

"For 13 days, I questioned whether she was going to make it or not," Fischer said.

Although his wife pulled through, Fischer said many Jefferson County residents did not and he cautioned against anyone he viewed as minimizing the loss by saying it's "only a percentage" of the general population.

"There is no 'only a percentage' when it's your mother or father or brother or sister who has been hospitalized," he said.

Some of the losses included Ty Scroggins, a longtime high school football coach in Louisville as well as WHAS Radio legend Wayne Perkey, Fischer noted.

"Out of respect for those we lost, and their families ... we've go to remember," Fischer said. "And that's why I'm proclaiming March 18 as a day of remembrance for our community for those we lost to COVID."

Fischer said the Big Four Bridge will be lit in green Friday and he's asking Jefferson County residents to wear green and light their porches in green.

In the coming weeks, Fischer said the community will be holding conversations on how to address the "collective trauma" residents are feeling from the pandemic, recent social unrest and the war in Ukraine.

"It's disrupted so much in our lives," Fischer said. "It's led to mental health challenges that are totally normal. ... We'll be reaching out to the community.

But despite all of the optimism surrounding declining COVID-19 numbers, Fischer and Moyer still cautioned everyone to get vaccinated and boosted. Specifically, Moyer noted concerns about the new Omicron BA.2 variant, which is currently spreading in Europe. Moyer said if the variant makes it to the community, it could spread faster than the previous omicron variant.

"We do not have signs of it yet. We did one week. It's gone," she said. "I don't want to talk about this virus like it's over either, because it could come back."