A&E doctor tells James O'Brien about life on the frontline fighting coronavirus
19 March 2020, 16:36
This A&E doctor opens up to James O'Brien about how tough it is fighting coronavirus on the front line.
Angelie, an A&E doctor, said morale is quite low in her hospital; the personal protection equipment they do have is "quickly running out" and surgical masks have run out entirely.
She told James that it has not been explained to frontline NHS staff why they are not being tested for coronavirus but she believes it is because there's an acknowledgement that all frontline staff will contract it.
Owing to the scale of the virus's spread, she said, some hospitals are drafting emergency rotas meaning doctors are on for seven days then off for seven days due to the "acceptance they'll all get it" and need time to recover.
Angelie told James that for health care workers self-isolation is only seven days instead of 14 which she put down to staff shortages.
She said that to make this hard time bearable she would really appreciate members of the public continuing to be understanding and friends to check in on medics they know.
NHS England has said a further 29 people who had tested positive for coronavirus have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in England to 128.
The total number of people to have died after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK now stands at 137.
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