The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on society, and those in the medical sector have been among the hardest hit. On Friday, Fox News personality Tucker Carlson spent part of his show sharing their tragic and shocking stories with the rest of America.
“I’m currently in isolation because I was exposed to a COVID-positive patient 12 days ago,” a New York City nurse’s letter read. “In my unit … we’re just wearing a regular gown, a face mask with … eyes and head exposed.”
“It terrifies me”
“We do the entire procedure face-to-face with the patient with just a regular mask and gown, even when they show signs and symptoms of COVID-19,” the anonymous nurse continued.
She went on to outline how difficult it was to get herself tested along with the anxiety she felt, both for herself and her family.
“I’m on my eighth day of isolation, experiencing coughing with a runny nose, pounding headaches and diarrhea,” the nurse explained. “I’ve tried to call the hotlines that they’re giving to the people of New York to get tested.”
“They just turned me down since I’m not sick enough. It terrifies me that I haven’t been tested because I’m turning 51 soon and suffer from asthma, diabetes and hypertension.”
However, she admitted that her biggest worry was for her child, writing, “What scares me the most is what will happen to my son [with] a lifelong condition.”
“Triple the usual influx of patients”
Carlson next began reading a letter from another New York City nurse, and what she had witnessed was disturbing as well.
“There’s about triple the usual influx of patients being wheeled into the E.R.,” the woman stated. “Many of the patients are sent home without being tested because they do not meet all the criteria. There’s always a lingering fear that someone we sent home might actually be sick.”
She also spoke of medical professionals feeling torn between their sense of professional duty and concern for their families.
“There’s a lot of pressure because we nurses have a responsibility to all patients. At the same time, we fear getting sick and getting our families sick,” the nurse lamented. These circumstances make for “a very tense environment right now” with everyone being “suspicious, on edge all the time.”
New York City has thus far seen the largest number of critical coronavirus cases and deaths with over 7,000 patients admitted to their overburdened hospitals and 672 fatalities being reported as of Sunday morning.
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