[ad_1]
Photo of Doctor in Protective Suit, Mask, Mask and Gloves Holding Elderly Patient in His Arms on Thanksgiving Day in the United States Goes Viral Symbol of Covid-19 Patients’ Despair and Compassion of health personnel.
The snapshot was captured Thursday, the day of the big family Thanksgiving celebration, at United Memorial Hospital in Houston, Texas, by a Getty photojournalist.
“I was in the COVID unit and I saw this old man who had gotten out of bed, was trying to leave and had started to cry”Dr. Joseph Barron, chief of the intensive care unit at United Memorial, told CNN Monday.
“I went up to him and asked him ‘why are you crying?’ He said, ‘I want to be with my wife.’ I hugged him, “ the doctor explained, adding that he did not know he was being photographed.
“He was crying, but after a while he felt better and stopped.” added Dr. Baron, stating that he too felt “hopeless”, “sad, like him.”
Hospitalization of COVID-19 patients is “difficult”, even more so for the elderly who feel alone and abandoned, the doctor explained. Some have tried to leave because “they are very isolated.”
The patient in the photo is better and has a good chance of being discharged from the hospital before the end of the week, however, Dr. Βαρόν clarified.
The doctor, who works in the unit for 256 days without a single day off, expressed his “despair” at the total indifference shown by many Texans towards the health recommendations.
Texas became the first US state in November to exceed 1 million cases. It counts 21,800 deaths from COVID-19 at this stage.
“I work every day while a lot of people do all the wrong things, go to bars, restaurants, shopping malls (…),” said Baron. “He doesn’t listen and ends up in my Intensive Care Unit. Let them know that I don’t want to hug them “, he said, before reiterating the call to respect health standards to protect them.
If the recommendations are followed, “members of the healthcare staff, like me, could rest,” added Dr. Βαρόν.
With information from AFP, ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
