Elizabeth Warren says her brother's death from coronavirus 'feels like something that didn't have to happen'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reflected on the death of her oldest brother, Donald Reed Herring, from the coronavirus in an interview excerpt published by The Atlantic.

Herring, who was 86, died earlier this year after contracting COVID-19, which has killed nearly 89,000 people in the United States since February.

Warren has been open about the affect her brother's death has had on her, placing a particular emphasis on the fact that she and her other siblings weren't able to be by his side — as is the case with so many people who have lost loved ones around the world — because of the infectious nature of the virus. "It's hard to process things things like this because everything is happening at a distance," she told The Atlantic. "And human beings — we're not set up for that. We're wired to be with each other."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The senator also said her brother's death, which she said occurred after it seemed like he "rallied" and might come home soon, "just feels like something that didn't have to happen." Read the full excerpt at The Atlantic.