Comicomment: “Where are my mother and father?”--200,000 US children orphaned by COVID-19

Special: Commentary

（ECNS）-- As the COVID-19 death toll in the US rose up to nearly 1 million, one out of every 12 orphans under the age of 18 is resulted from a pandemic caregiver loss, and in every public school in the US, on average two children have lost a caregiver to the epidemic, according to an Atlantic Monthly article.

Researchers have pointed out that bereaved children are at an increased risk of mental ill-health and psychosocial problems, and are more likely to experience alcohol and substance abuse, dropping out of school, and poverty.

Due to the US government's failure to combat the epidemic, some 200,000 US children were orphaned by COVID-19. Yet the country offers very little support at a federal level to these pandemic orphans. A memorandum released this April didn't give any concrete proposals and the actual response to the issue.

In a country that has been considered the most developed one in the world with a leading health system, the plight of the orphans is mainly a result of the government's botched COVID-19 response. Looking at these orphans in the US, one cannot help but ask, do American children have their rights protected? (John Lee)