An exhausted nurse has told how 13-hour shifts on an intensive care unit ward have left her physically and mentally drained.
Maria Lizcano Gómez, who works at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, west London, was a recovery nurse but moved to the ICU for the coronavirus crisis.
The NHS hero from Malaga, Spain, described chaotic scenes and compared the situation to a ‘battlefield’ as medical staff fight to fend off the killer bug.
Maria Lizcano Gómez (left), who works at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, west London, worked as a recovery nurse but was moved to ICU for the coronavirus crisis
The NHS hero (pictured) from Malaga, Spain, described chaotic scenes and compared the situation to a ‘battlefield’ as medical staff fight to fend off the killer bug
Her sobering story comes as another 684 people died from the illness on Friday, bringing the total death toll to 3,605.
There are fears it could rocket to 1,000 per day by Easter Sunday, while cases have soared past 38,000.
Ms Gómez told the Mirror: ‘We want to appear calm on the outside. But inside, everyone is panicking.
‘I think, ”how am I going to coordinate a recovery unit with no patients to recover? Where is my team? What should we do?”.’
Ms Gómez said ‘We want to appear calm on the outside. But inside, everyone is panicking’
London has been hammered by the coronavirus but in a glimmer of hope the number of people admitted to hospital in the capital has fallen for the first time.
New admissions fell below 4,000 on Wednesday, according to Government data released on Friday, echoing health centres in the Midlands and North Wales.
But Ms Gómez described a desperate state of affairs where health workers are running around desperately trying to save their patients.
She wrote on Facebook: ‘Our nose and cheeks are really sore and red. Our faces and hands become really dry and itchy as the day passes and we got really tired of being under layers of protective gowns and gloves. And this was just my first day.
‘I don’t want to be dramatic and people know I don’t usually share this kind of posts, but this is getting real and it’s really bad, so please, please, take it seriously.’
Ms Gómez (pictured, her face after wearing a mask all day) described a desperate state of affairs where health workers are running around and everyone’s panicking
Pictured: NHS workers wearing their full PPE at the Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, west London
Ms Gómez added: ‘It’s so hot and it seems like all of our efforts to improve patient’s health are not making any difference. Frustrated. And it’s only the beginning.’
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, last night cautioned against reading into the data showing hospital admissions are falling.
He said overall the number of admissions was still rising and when asked about seeing any ‘green shoots’ in the battle against the virus, he added: ‘I think it’s too early to make any kind of interpretation such as that.’
Meanwhile Ms Gómez has skipped days off and told how some nights she comes home so drained she feels drunk.
She said: ‘I am shaking from being so tired as I didn’t sleep properly because I was over thinking in bed. I’m scared.’
Despite the desperation on the frontline, Ms Gómez revealed how hospital staff are keeping their spirits up.
She said one nurse had been running around sweating for 13 hours to keep her sick patient alive and he thankfully recovered.
Ms Gómez added: ‘I say she is Nurse of the Day and we all applaud in the bay. There is such a good vibe, I even have tears in my eyes.
‘I start to feel like maybe, just maybe, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.’
Hero coronavirus nurse, 36, died moments after her husband whispered ‘don’t worry about the kids’ into her ear as he defied doctors’ orders not to share one final hug
- Areema Nasreen died in intensive care at Walsall Manor Hospital, West Midlands
- Mother-of-three became country’s youngest health worker to die from the virus
- Her family are now pleading that people follow the coronavirus lockdown rules
By Raven Saunt for MailOnline
A frontline NHS nurse who had been battling coronavirus died just moments after her husband whispered ‘don’t worry about the kids’.
Areema Nasreen, 36, died in intensive care at Walsall Manor Hospital, West Midlands, where she had worked.
The mother-of-three, who leaves behind children aged 8, 10, and 17, became the country’s youngest health worker to be killed by the disease.
Areema Nasreen, 36, (pictured) died earlier today in intensive care at Walsall Manor Hospital, West Midlands, where she had worked
Areema first tested positive for the virus after developing a soaring temperature, body aches and a cough.
The nurse, who has no underlying health conditions and had worked for the NHS for 16 years, was put on a ventilator but died earlier today.
Areema’s sister Ash, 31, told the Sun: ‘We’re distraught. We are all just broken – we’ve just got no words.
‘Areema was on the ventilator and just before she died, her husband said to her “don’t worry about the kids”.
‘She started to cry. The doctors said please don’t hug her, because of the virus, but he said he had to.
‘Then she passed away. We are all absolutely devastated.’
Her family are now pleading that people follow the coronavirus lockdown rules.
The mother-of-three, who leaves behind children aged 8, 10, and 17, became the country’s youngest health worker to be killed by the disease. Pictured: Areema with her husband
The nurse, who has no underlying health conditions, had worked for the NHS for 16 years. Pictured: Walsall Manor Hospital
A second frontline nurse, Aimee O’Rourke, 39, also passed away after treating patients at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent.
England’s chief nurse, Ruth May, today paid tribute to both women.
Flanking Health Secretary Matt Hancock at a news conference this afternoon, Ms May said: ‘This weekend is going to be very warm and it will be very tempting to go out and enjoy those summer rays.
‘But please, I ask to remember Aimee and Areema. Please stay at home for them.’
Mr Hancock echoed her, saying people should resist the urge to get out and about, saying: ‘If we do people will die’.
A second frontline nurse, Aimee O’Rourke, 39, (pictured) also passed away after treating patients at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent
It comes as the latest figures reported 38,168 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the UK with the death toll currently at 3,605.
NHS staff working at the coalface are among the most at risk to contracting the virus.
Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, became ill and died in intensive care on March 25 at Southend Hospital in Essex on Wednesday.
Dr Adil El Tayar, 63, died on March 28 after contracting the virus at the Hereford County Hospital.
England’s chief nurse, Ruth May (pictured), today paid tribute to both Areema and Aimee
Dr Amged El-Hawrani, 55, an ear nose and throat (ENT) specialist at Queen’s Hospital Burton, died on March 29.
Nurse Thomas Harvey, 57, of Goodmayes Hospital, London, died on Sunday after contracting the virus.
Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, died on Tuesday after working at Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.