One nurse who’s on the forefront in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy says that the experience is similar to being in a war state.
There’s immense pressure and medical staff is working around the clock, trying to cease the spreading of the virus which has so far taken more than thousand Italian lives.
Among the victims of the virus was a 59-year-old doctor and close friend of nurse Roberta Re who works at Piacenza hospital in Emilia-Romagna, a region with the second highest number of COVID-19 cases.
Re said that she would compare the situation to a war, but a war which can’t be fought with traditional arms as we’re not yet sure who is this enemy and therefore, it’s hard to fight it off.
She further added that the sole weapon is to prevent things from worsening by remaining home and abiding by the rules as China did and is already paying off.
Italy Is Having the Worst COVID-19 Outbreak in Europe
Italy is the European country which is struggling with the virus the most- this has led to lockdown restrictions due to the increase in deaths from the virus.
Since the start of the epidemic, the total number of deaths and recovered patients has went over 15,000.
Re explains that now, there are days when she cries and feels depressed, even though she’s usually a happy person who’s joking and chatting with everyone.
Other medical personnel are also speaking on social media about the burnout of hospital staff under the immense pressure.
One Andrea Vercelli who works at the Emergency Unit in the Piacenza Hospital said in a video that this isn’t a normal flu, but 40 cases of pneumonia daily in the ER.
A doctor from the Humanitas Gavazzeni hospital in Bergamo, Lombardy, Daniele Macchini, said that the situation is nothing short of dramatic and the war has exploded and the battle is day and night, even before the lockdown began.
There has also been information that because of the high pressure in hospitals, the decision to save a life is done by age and health conditions, similarly like in wars.
The main consumer association in Italy, Codacons, asked the Bergamo prosecutors to investigate these claims that started after an anesthetist in the ICU in the Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital stated this for a newspaper.
However, the president of Codacons, Carlo Rienzi notes that in no situation can age be a discriminatory factor in public health and in no way a criteria for the decision whether someone should get treatment or not.
Many Medical Workers Got Infected with COVID-19
The virus has infected a lot of medical workers- Roberto Stella, president of the order of doctors in Varese, Lombardy-the most critical region-died on Wednesday.
He was a 67-year-old doctor treating patients until he began experiencing symptoms and went into the ICU himself last Friday.
According to the VP of the Varese doctors order, Stella died a hero like numerous other colleagues who’ve lost their lives in recent days.
The PM of Italy ordered a stay-at-home for Italians and closure of shops, restaurants, and bars throughout the whole country as a way of containing the virus.
He emphasized the need of understanding the severity of the situation.
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