Nearly 13,000 New Jerseyans have lost their lives to COVID-19.

For the last three months, Gov. Phil Murphy has mentioned several New Jersey residents who have lost their lives to the virus during his daily briefings. The governor says that he tries to offer his personal condolences to as many families as he can.

“There’s just one story after another and every one of them is unique,” Murphy said Tuesday.

The governor says that while he can’t eulogize all who have died, his faith in God remains.

“It’s strengthened my faith. I know that may be counter-intuitive, but the lives that have been lived are extraordinary. The strength of the families and the loved ones just takes your breath away, the love that they had for these folks,” Murphy said.

If the governor’s office learns of a death – whether through a new account or by word of mouth – the governor may make a condolence call to family members. These calls typically come the morning of a loved one’s passing.

“In some cases, the person has just passed, in other cases we’ve learned about them and they’ve passed a while ago, so we want to be respectful,” he says. “While the conversations may be difficult, they’re living it. I’m only having this brief interaction with them."

Murphy says that the eulogies and calls bring into focus the human toll of the pandemic.

“It can never be only about the numbers. These are almost now 13,000 extraordinary lives lost. Young, middle-aged, old…we must never lose sight of that. We must never lose sight of how personal this is for so many in the state,” Murphy said.

According to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, 12,949 New Jersey residents have died from the virus.