Of wounds left on the Augusta area by the pandemic, Joe Traina may be one of the freshest.
The Augusta progressive activist died Feb. 11 in a San Diego-area hospital from complications of COVID-19. He was 33.
“It’s kind of a waiting game here. I’m still in California,” said his mother, Denise Traina.
She’s been in the Long Beach area since Feb. 6 and remains there now, waiting for her son’s death certificate. COVID-19 cases remain high and health departments and crematoriums are backed up.
“Administrative things and even the actual cremation has not occurred because of the volume of people that are waiting,” she said.