New York (AFP)
Rational protective equipment, tests reserved for the most serious patients: in New York, the American epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, an increasing number of caregivers consider themselves to be in danger as cases increase in their ranks.
They were about twenty gathered Saturday morning in front of the emergencies of the Jacobi Medical Center to protest against their working conditions in this hospital in the Bronx district.
"We risk our lives to save yours," said a sign held by a nurse, with the keyword "#PPENow", for "personal protective equipment" (PPE), the masks, glasses, gloves or aprons necessary for staff in contact with infected patients.
"There is both a feeling of despair and of solidarity between us. Everyone is afraid, we are trying to support each other," says Diana Torres, 33, nurse in intensive rehabilitation in one of the hospitals of the new group. Yorker Mount Sinai.
Its intensive rehabilitation unit is not the most exposed to the epidemic, which had killed 366 people on Friday evening and infected more than 25,000 people in New York City.
But she has already had to care for several patients with the virus, and has had to beg for protective equipment.
"I was getting nothing, I was starting to be in all my states," she said.
"They ration the equipment. We tell you + You only receive so many combinations, so many masks + and you have to save them. So you put a plastic bag on your combination to make it last longer", adds this thirty-something, who relayed a photo that has gone viral showing caregivers dressed in garbage bags.
When she returns home, Diana Torres puts herself in solitary confinement in the attic of her house in Passaic (New Jersey), so as not to risk possibly transmitting the virus to her husband, her children, or her mother-in-law.
"It's appalling," said a psychiatric intern from another New York hospital in the Queens district. "There is not enough money, not enough tests, not enough protective equipment - not only for doctors, but also for nurses, auxiliaries, cleaning agents".
"The people on the front line are not protected, they are like lambs being led to the slaughterhouse," he asserts.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday that New York state hospitals said they have enough protective gear at the moment.
He nevertheless recognized "a concern" of certain healthcare personnel, for whom the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the national authority on the matter, "did not (protect them) enough".
In the interests of economy, the CDC thus recommends renewing the equipment less often to prevent possible shortages, said the governor, indicating that the subject was under study.
"If we conclude that these recommendations are not protective enough, then we will put in place our own rules," he said.
- "Right to know" -
The Queens psychiatric intern, who looks just like Andrew, is currently at home with fever, cough and loss of smell: symptoms characteristic of Covid-19, although it could not be tested .
In New York as in other countries, tests are generally reserved only for people with "severe" symptoms, such as pneumonia, whether or not they work in healthcare.
"It's criminal. It's already a big sacrifice to be in health, it's really a shame to get there," said Andrew.
"Technically, we are all exposed," said Diana Torres. So "we all behave like paranos, trying to keep our distance because we can't get tested".
"We are doing enough to at least have the right to know," said the mother of three. "If it is, we are all in the incubation period".
"We are told that we can resume (work) as soon as we feel better", despite official recommendations which say to wait a few days after the symptoms have disappeared, also regrets Ms. Torres.
Last Tuesday, Kious Kelly, a 48-year-old male nurse who had been one of the heads of his unit, died. He may well be the first New York nurse to die from coronavirus.
Asked about the number of sick carers, a manager of New York municipal hospitals said Thursday "do not have a count".
In a statement, the management of Mount Sinai said it was "deeply saddened" by the death of Kious Kelly, while ensuring "to always provide personnel with the critical protective equipment they need".
"He was someone who literally lived in the hospital," says Ms. Torres, "he paid the ultimate price."
© 2020 AFP