The coronavirus outbreak through the eyes of a South African doctor in Seattle - The Mail & Guardian

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The coronavirus outbreak through the eyes of a South African doctor in Seattle

finally hit home when one of my colleagues, a 30-year-old healthy neurological intensive care unit nurse, was admitted to the Covid isolation unit on a ventilator.

By late February, an outbreak of Covid-19 was discovered at a nursing facility in Kirkland, a city within the greater Seattle metropole. Of the 120 residents, most elderly, 81 patients have tested positive and 34 have died. A number of healthcare workers at the nursing facility were also infected. At my hospital, which is a safety-net hospital and the only level one trauma centre serving five states in the Pacific Northwest, all elective surgeries have been cancelled and there is a moratorium on leave of absence. My call roster now has first and second back-up persons in the event someone becomes sick. We have been warned of the likely need to reconfigure all services to deal with a surge in Covid-19 in the upcoming weeks.

Yet, as I look at the boarded-up section of our neuro ICU, which has been converted into the Covid isolation unit, these numbers are hollow and not reassuring. Beyond that hastily erected containment structure lies my friend, a vivacious young woman, fighting for her life in the very unit where she has dedicated much of her youth to caring for the infirm.

 

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