Can the World ’s Doctors Survive Another Wave of COVID-19?

The weight of the pandemic first caught up with New York City ER physician Jane Kim in April. After spending weeks caring for seriously ill patients, she learned of four deaths among her “work family.” Three died of the virus, another from suicide. Her grief “halted” her, she says: “You can’t think. You can’t move. You can’t breathe.” Since then, Kim, 39, has leaned on friends, family and therapy to cope. She’s also heartened that doctors now better understand how to treat COVID-19 compared with those early, uncertain days. But as cases rise nationwide, she worries that doctors are about to face a “tsunami” of patients. “I fear that we’re not ready—emotionally, physically, mentally—to go through that again,” Kim says. “I’m not.” As the COVID-19 pandemic has surged, receded and surged again, it has taken a tremendous toll on people like Kim. In the U.S. alone, more than 218,400 health care workers have contracted the virus and at least 800 have died, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; an estimated 12% of U.S. health care workers have been infected compared with approximately 3.4% of the general population. And many more are suffering in other ways—more than 40% of doctors in the U.K. are reporting worsening mental-health issues, according to an October survey from the British Medical Association. As another wave builds, i...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Magazine Source Type: news