Memorial opposite Italian hospital is one of many honoring COVID's 5 million dead

The Italian city that suffered the brunt of COVID-19's first deadly wave is dedicating a vivid memorial to the pandemic dead: A grove of trees, creating oxygen in a park opposite the hospital where so many died, unable to breathe.

Bergamo, in northern Italy, is among the many communities around the globe dedicating memorials to commemorate lives lost in a pandemic that has surpassed the terrible threshold of 5 million confirmed dead.

Some have been drawn from artist's ideas or civic group proposals, but others are spontaneous displays of grief and frustration. Everywhere, the task of creating collective memorials is fraught, with the pandemic far from vanquished and new dead still being mourned.