As the COVID-19 epidemic continues to worsen, the U.S. health care system is facing unprecedented pressure. In hard-hit areas such as Southern California, the available capacity of intensive care units has been directly zero. The double pressure of body and spirit has caused pain to many medical staff.
Barbara Ferrer, Los Angeles County Public Health Officer: Hospital admission capacity is on the alert level, and our medical staff (work pressure) are approaching the limit.
The number of patients with COVID-19 has increased sharply, creating a serious shortage of medical staff.
Doctors and nurses who can still stick to their posts have to work overtime continuously, some of whom have worked more than 10 hours a day since March. Many medical staff are already exhausted.
California nurse: tired, depressed, afraid, sad, sad.
At the same time, medical staff are also facing great mental pressure. Public health experts in the United States predict that the outbreak of the epidemic has occurred after the public holiday in November, the number of deaths across the United States has soared, and many medical staff have been in a sad atmosphere for a long time.
In addition, because they are very vulnerable to infection at work, some nurses choose to live alone during the epidemic to avoid infection to their families, so they have not seen their families for a long time.
California nurse: I can’t go to see my mother because I’m afraid of infecting her. We are just trying our best to do our own work, and I hope everyone can do their part.
