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HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shortly after midnight, Duc Nguyen sat on his hospital bed for a video call with his wife. The glare of a television and a street lamp outside her window provided the only light when a nasal cannula delivered oxygen to her lungs.
This was not how the 33-year-old had envisioned welcoming him into the new year, but said he was grateful that the United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) in Houston had an empty bed so he could be treated for pneumonia caused by COVID. . 19.
Nguyen said he was confident he would recover, but predicted that the worst days of the pandemic were yet to come.
“We still have another gift for us next year,” he said hoarsely. “It’s not over yet”.
Similar scenes were unfolding across the country when a spike in post-Thanksgiving infections added to the number of patients forced into hospital in 2021 alone, confined to a hospital room by a virus that has claimed more than 342,000 American lives.
Located in a working-class area of North Houston, UMMC has been hit hard by the waves of cases that hit Texas during the summer and fall, causing immense physical and emotional toll for nurses like Tanna Ingraham, who herself exceeded two episodes of COVID-19.
In normal times, Ingraham could have called in the new year sharing drinks with friends. Instead, he was still coming to terms with the sudden death this week of a patient who had just been removed from a ventilator amid signs that he was improving.
Like her, the patient was 43 years old and Ingraham held back tears as he removed the tubes from her body and placed her in a body bag, a task she has become used to this year. For Ingraham, 2021 and widespread vaccination cannot come soon enough.
“I just hope that at the end of this there is a light because, honestly, that’s the only thing that keeps me going. That and my faith,” he said. “So in 2021 I am ready.”
This week, Reuters followed doctors and nurses as they toured UMMC’s COVID-19 unit, pausing to check vital signs and sometimes offering a hug or grabbing a hand. Touch, Ingraham said, who had learned from his own battles with the disease, is critical to avoiding a sense of despair.
TENSE ATMOSPHERE
A handcrafted sign marks the number of days, 287, that staff have been working since the pandemic hit Texas in the spring. Mexican and American flags hang on the walls, a nod to the many medical students from Mexico who have come to help and learn. A Christmas tree and holiday decorations make up for a tense atmosphere amid worries of an impending surge.
On Thursday, Texas set a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 12,268 patients in hospitals across the state, surpassing a previous peak in July, according to data from the Texas Department of Health. A University of Washington team whose model has been used by the White House projects that state hospitalizations will peak on Jan.9.
Dr. David Persse, the health authority for the Houston Department of Health, is concerned that infections will accelerate in January and February as cases stemming from the Christmas and New Year celebrations materialize. Another concern is the possible spread of a highly infectious variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain, he said.
“It’s a huge concern,” Persse said. “We are all preparing to see if that happens.”
Dr. Joseph Varon, the hospital’s medical director, spoke quickly Thursday afternoon as he put on his personal protective equipment. It was his 287th consecutive day of work and two more COVID-19 patients had died the night before.
“We have patients to the wazoo. The wards are full. My nurses are exhausted. Emotions are everywhere. People are dying,” said Varon, who drew national attention in November after a photo of him hugging a patient with COVID-19 went viral. .
“My hope for 2021 is that people are a little more aware,” he said, referring to the use of masks and social distancing. “That they understand that by wearing your mask you are protecting someone else.”
Terry Peden, a 57-year-old electrical engineer, came to Varon’s COVID-19 unit after he was told by another hospital that he should stay home and get over his illness, which went from a COVID-19 diagnosis to double pneumonia. .
Peden said he was happy to be alive and was happy to ring in the New Year with a call to his son and daughter from their hospital bed.
“I’d love to be home, but everyone else would,” Peden said. “I will be happy when 2020 is over. It has been a great year for everyone.”
(Information from Callaghan O’Hare in Houston; Additional information from Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Daniel Wallis and David Goodman)
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