HOUSTON (Reuters) – Duc Nguyen sat in his hospital bed shortly after midnight for a video call with his wife. The glow of a television and a street lamp outside his window provide the only light as a nasal canal delivers oxygen to his lungs.
That was not how the 33-year-old envisioned the new year, but he 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 was caused. 19.
Nguyen said he was confident he would recover, but he predicted the worst days of the pandemic lay ahead.
“We’re still working on another surprise next year,” he said in a raspy voice. “It’s not over yet.”
Similar scenes played out across the country as an increase in infections after Thanksgiving, which contributed to the number of patients forced to be alone in 2021, limited to a hospital by a virus that took more than 342,000 American lives .
UMMC is in a working-class area in north Houston, and has been hit hard by the waves of cases that hit Texas in the summer and fall, leaving nurses like Tanna Ingraham, who herself has overcome two, a tremendous physical and emotional tol eis. attacks by COVID-19.
In normal times, Ingraham may have rang in the new year and shared drinks with friends. Instead, she still has the issue of the sudden death this week of a patient who had just been taken out of a ventilator amid signs that she was recovering.
Like her, the patient was 43 and Ingraham choked on tears as she pulled the tubes from her body and placed them in a suitcase – a task she had become accustomed to this year. For Ingraham, 2021 and widespread vaccination may not come soon enough.
‘I just hope there’s going to be a light at the end of this, because that’s honestly the only thing that keeps me going. That and my faith, ”she said. “So, 2021, I’m ready.”
Reuters followed doctors and nurses this week as they made their rounds with UMMC’s COVID-19 unit, to go look for vital signs and sometimes give a hug or grab a hand. Touch, Ingraham said she learned from her own battle with the disease, is critical to ward off a sense of despair.
TIENSE ATMOSPHERE
A handmade sign indicates the number of days 287 people have been working since the Texas pandemic came this spring. Mexican and American flags hang on the walls, a nod to the many medical students from Mexico who came to help and learn. A Christmas tree and holiday decorations compensate for an otherwise tense atmosphere amid the worries of the upcoming boom.
On Thursday, Texas set a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 12,268 patients in hospitals across the state, which, according to data from the Texas Department of Health, rose further than a previous high in July. A team from the University of Washington whose model is used by the White House, projects the hospitalizations of the state will reach a climax on January 9th.
Dr. David Persse, the health authority of the Houston Health Department, is concerned that infections will accelerate in January and February as the effects of Christmas and New Year are celebrated. Another source of concern is the possible spread of an extremely contagious coronavirus variant discovered in Britain, he said.
“It’s very worrying,” Persse said. “We all like to see if that happens.”
Dr Joseph Varon, medical head of the hospital, spoke quickly on Thursday afternoon as he put on personal protective equipment. It was his 287th day in progress and two more COVID-19 patients died the night before.
‘We have patients all the way to the wazoo. The wards are full. My nurses are exhausted. Emotions are everywhere. “People are dying,” said Varon, who received national attention in November after a photo of him embracing a COVID-19 patient went viral.
“My hope for 2021 is that people are a little more conscientious,” he said, referring to masked wear and social distance. “That they understand someone by wearing their mask, you protect someone else.”
Terry Peden, a 57-year-old electrical engineer, came to Varon’s COVID-19 unit after being told by another hospital to stay home and get rid of his illness, which progressed from a COVID -19 diagnosis to double pneumonia.
Peden said he was just happy to be alive and that he wanted to call the new year with his son and daughter from his hospital bed.
“I would love to be home, but so would everyone,” Peden said. ‘I will be happy when 2020 is over. It was one heck of a year for the whole world. ‘
Reporting by Callaghan O’Hare in Houston; Additional reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Edited by Daniel Wallis and David Goodman