The Enraging Deja Vu of a Third Coronavirus Wave – By Caroline Chen (Pro Publica) / Nov 13 2020
Health care workers don’t need patronizing praise. They need resources, federal support, and for us to stay healthy and out of their hospitals. In many cases, none of that is happening.
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There’s a joke I’ve seen circulating online, over and over during this pandemic, that goes along the lines of, “Months this year: January, February, March, March, March, March, March…”
My lips pull into a smile, but my heart’s not in it.
I was on the phone two weeks ago with a nurse who lives in Missouri, where cases have risen from 1,100 per day in August to about 3,400 daily in November. Her husband works in the ER of a rural hospital. Every time a patient suspected of having COVID-19 walks in, the sample is sent to be tested in St. Louis, an hour and a half away. Results take eight hours or more to process.
Medical workers don’t get enough protective equipment. “They’re given one N95 mask and have to keep it in a bag to reuse for days,” the nurse said, fretting about her husband’s safety. “He should at least get a new mask for every shift, right?”
I looked at the calendar: It was Oct. 30, but it might as well have been March.
Continue > https://www.propublica.org/article/the-enraging-deja-vu-of-a-third-coronavirus-wave
