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The photo of a doctor comforting an elderly coronavirus patient who missed his wife on Thanksgiving highlighted the emotional toll of the pandemic in the middle of the holidays.
Photographer Go Nakamura captured the heartbreaking photograph of Dr Varon Joseph and an unidentified elderly patient caught in a vulnerable embrace.
Dressed in full PPE, Varon wrapped his gloved hands around the discouraged patient, who was placed in the coronavirus ICU at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas.
According to Varon, the patient was moved on Thanksgiving Day because he was alone in the intensive care unit and desperately missed his wife.
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Dr Joseph Varon (left) was pictured hugging an elderly coronavirus patient who missed his wife on Thanksgiving Day in Houston, Texas
“ As I walk into my covid unit, I see this elderly patient is out of bed and trying to get out of the room, and he’s crying, ” Varon told CNN. New day Monday.
“So I walk up to him and say, ‘Why are you crying?’ And the man says, ‘I want to be with my wife.’ ‘
Varon said the two kissed until the patient started to calm down and stopped crying. “I grabbed it and just held it,” he says.
He added that being administered in the intensive care unit for coronavirus, especially as an elderly patient, can be difficult.
“You can’t imagine. You are in a room where people come in [wearing] space suits, ” he told CNN, referring to the PPE clothing that health workers wear.
“You don’t have any communication with anyone – or over the phone if you’re lucky – and when you’re a senior… it’s even more difficult because you feel lonely. You feel isolated.
Led by Dr Joseph Varon, medical workers prepare to intubate a patient with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) intensive care unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas
Varon (photo): “You have no communication with anyone else – or by phone if you’re lucky – and when you’re old … it’s even more difficult because you feel lonely”
Varon, who worked 256 consecutive days from Monday, said his staff were good at comforting patients but their numbers were overwhelming.
“But sometimes we have so many patients that we can’t hold every patient or grab every patient’s hand,” he told CNN.
The United States’ battle against the coronavirus pandemic continued from spring to fall, when health officials fear it could collide with flu season.
America has recorded more than 13.3 million cases and 266,000 deaths, while Texas has accumulated more than 1.1 million cases and 21,347 deaths.
On Sunday, officials said there were 6,041 new daily cases and 48 new deaths.
In Harris County, where Houston resides, there have been more than 187,000 confirmed infections and 2,418 deaths.
Harris County has the most infections of all counties in Texas and has a 14-day positivity rate of 9.4 percent.
“ My nurses in the middle of the day, they will start to cry because they get so many patients, and it’s a never-ending story, ” Varon told CNN.
“ When they’re finally done bringing in a patient, they get a phone call from the emergency room to report that another patient is admitted.
“My hospital is full. I just opened two new wings so that I can accommodate myself for the next few days because I know a lot of people are going to get sick after Thanksgiving.
Seeing tears in the intensive care room, according to Varon, is not uncommon.
“ It happens all the time, ” he told CNN. “Some patients cry. Some patients try to escape. We had someone who tried to escape through a window the other day. They are so isolated that they really want to go out.
Varon (photo): ‘My nurses in the middle of the day, they will start to cry because they have so many patients, and it’s a never-ending story’
Dr Joseph Varon, 58, chief medical officer at United Memorial Medical Center, kisses Christina Mathers, 43, a nurse on his team who has been infected with COVID-19
Varon admitted watching the crowds of patients being administered in his hospital while other Americans flouted public health guidelines was frustrating.
“ The frustration I do today day in and day out, and people do the wrong thing. People visit bars, restaurants, malls – it’s crazy. People don’t listen and then end up in my intensive care unit, ”he said.
But Varon on CNN urged local residents and others to follow basic CDC health guidelines that could prevent them from entering the hospital.
“What people need to know is that I don’t want to hug them,” Varon said. “They have to do the basic things.”
Varon went on to mention guidelines such as social distancing, face masks, hand washing and avoiding large gatherings.
‘Very simple. If people can do that, then healthcare workers like me can hopefully get some rest, ”Varon said.
Varon: “ The frustration I do today, day in and day out, and people do the wrong thing. People visit bars, restaurants, malls – it’s crazy. People don’t listen and then end up in my intensive care unit. Pictured: Dr Joseph Varon (right) leads a team as they attempt to save a patient’s life
In Harris County, where Houston resides, there have been more than 187,000 confirmed infections and 2,418 deaths. Pictured: Dr Joseph Varon (right)
On Monday, the elderly patient in the viral photo was still in intensive care and is expected to test negative for his coronavirus.
The man is feeling better and Varon is optimistic that he will be released before the end of the week.
The United States recorded 136,313 new cases of the coronavirus on Monday, according to the New York Times database.
The CDC has recommended people avoid travel during the holidays and advised against reuniting with anyone who has not lived in the same household for at least 14 days, the incubation period of the virus.
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