HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shortly after midnight, Duke Nguyen sat on the hospital bed to make a video call with his wife. The glow of a television and a lantern outside the window provided the only light a nasal cannula transmitted oxygen to his lungs.
It was not as the 33-year-old had planned the reception in the new year, but said he was grateful that Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) had a vacant bed so it could be treated for COVID-induced pneumonia. .
Nguyen said he was confident he would recover, but predicted the worst days of the pandemic were ahead.
“We’re still facing another treat next year,” he said in a creepy voice. “It’s not over yet”.
Similar scenes were performed across the country as an increase in post-Thanksgiving infections was added to the number of patients forced to open only in 2021, confined to a hospital room by a virus that has caused more than 342,000 American lives.
Located in a working-class area of northern Houston, UMMC has been hit hard by the waves of cases that fell in Texas during the summer and fall, and demanded a huge physical and emotional toll on nurses like Tanna Ingraham, who has passed two episodes of COVID-19.
In normal times, Ingraham could have sounded the new year by sharing drinks with friends. Instead, he still agreed with the sudden death this week of a patient who had just removed a ventilator amid signals he was repairing.
Like her, the patient was 43 years old and Ingraham drowned in tears as she removed the tubes from her body and placed her in a body bag, a task she has become accustomed to this year. For Ingraham, 2021 and widespread vaccination may not arrive soon enough.
“I just hope that there is light at the end of it because, honestly, that’s the only thing that keeps me going. That and my faith, “he said.” So in 2021 I’m ready. “
This week Reuters has been following doctors and nurses as they circled the UMMC COVID-19 unit, pausing to check for vital signs and sometimes offering a hug or holding hands. Touch, Ingraham said he had learned from his own battles with the disease, is key to avoiding a sense of despair.
TENSIVE ATMOSPHERE
A handmade poster marks the number of days (287) staff have been working on since the pandemic hit Texas in the spring. Mexican and American flags hang on the walls, gesturing to the many medical students in Mexico who have come to help and learn. A Christmas tree and holiday decorations make up for a tense atmosphere elsewhere, amid the worries of the next wave.
On Thursday, Texas set a new hospitalization record for COVID-19, with 12,268 patients in hospitals across the state, which rose above the pre-July high, according to data from the Texas Department of Health. A team at the University of Washington that has used the White House model 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 of Christmas and New Year celebrations materialize. Another concern is the possible spread of a highly infectious coronavirus variant discovered in Britain, he said.
“It’s a huge concern,” Persse said. “We’re ready to see if that happens.”
Dr. Joseph Varon, chief physician of the hospital, spoke quickly Thursday afternoon while putting on 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 up to the wazoo. The neighborhoods 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 COVID-19 patient went viral.
“My hope for 2021 is for people to be a little more aware,” he said, referring to the use of masks and social distancing. “Let them understand wearing the mask protect someone else.”
Terry Peden, a 57-year-old electrical engineer, arrived at Varon’s COVID-19 unit after another hospital told him he should stay home and get rid of the disease, which went from a diagnosis of COVID- 19 to double pneumonia.
Peden said he was happy to be alive and that he was content to ring the new year with a call to his son and daughter from the hospital bed.
“I would love to be home, but also everyone else,” Peden said. “I will be happy when 2020 is over. It has been one day a year for everyone.”
Reports from Callaghan O’Hare to Houston; Additional reports from Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Edited by Daniel Wallis and David Goodman