HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shortly after midnight, Duc Nguyen sat in a hospital bed for a video call with his wife. The glow of a TV and a street lamp outside his window provided the only light, as a nasal cannula carried oxygen to his lungs.
It was not the way the 33-year-old had imagined the reception in the new year, but he said he was grateful that United Memorial Medical Center (UMMC) in Houston had a free bed so he could be treated for COVID-induced pneumonia. 19.
Nguyen said he was confident he would recover, but predicted that the worst days of the pandemic would be ahead.
“We are still waiting for a new treatment next year,” he said harshly. “It’s not over yet.”
Similar scenes unfolded across the country as a wave of post-Thanksgiving infections added to the number of patients forced to open in 2021 alone, confined to a hospital room by a virus that has claimed more than 342,000 lives.
Located in a working-class area of northern Houston, UMMC has been hit hard by waves of cases that hit Texas during the summer and fall, causing a huge physical and emotional burden on nurses such as Tanna Ingraham, who she herself overcame two COVID-19 attacks.
In normal times, Ingraham could have called in the new year sharing drinks with friends. Instead, she was still reconciled with the sudden death this week of a patient who had just been taken off a ventilator, amid signs that it was being repaired.
Like her, the patient was 43 years old, and Ingraham stifled her tears as he 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 large-scale vaccination may not come soon enough.
“I just hope that at the end of this there will be a light, because, honestly, this is the only thing that keeps me going. That and my faith, “she said. “So 2021 is ready.”
This week, Reuters followed doctors and nurses as they toured the UMMC’s COVID-19 unit, taking a break to check for vital signs and sometimes offering a hug or holding a hand. Touching, Ingraham said he learned from his own battles with the disease, is essential to avoid a sense of despair.
TENNIS ATMOSPHERE
A handmade sign marks the number of days – 287 – that staff have been working since the pandemic hit Texas in the spring. Mexican and American flags hang on the walls, a sign to many medical students in Mexico who have come to help and learn. A Christmas tree and holiday decorations compensate for an otherwise tense atmosphere, amid the worries of a growth to come.
On Thursday, Texas set a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 12,268 patients in hospitals across the state, rising well above a previous high in July, according to the Texas Department of Health. A University of Washington team whose model was used by the White House designing state hospitals will peak on Jan. 9.
Dr. David Persse, the health authority at the Houston Department of Health, worries that infections will accelerate in January and February as cases from the Christmas and New Year holidays materialize. Another concern is the possible spread of an extremely infectious variant of coronavirus found in the UK, he said.
“It’s a huge concern,” Persse said. “We’re all sorts of arrangements to see if that happens.”
Dr. Joseph Varon, the hospital’s chief physician, spoke quickly on Thursday afternoon while wearing personal protective equipment. It was the 287th consecutive working day and two other patients with COVID-19 had died the night before.
“We have patients up to wazoo. The sections are full. My nurses are exhausted. Emotions are everywhere. People are dying, ”said Varon, who attracted national attention in November after a photo of him hugging a COVID-19 patient went viral.
“My hope for 2021 is that people are a little more conscientious,” he said, referring to wearing masks and social distancing. “That they understand wearing your mask, protect someone else.”
Terry Peden, a 57-year-old electrical engineer, came to Varon’s COVID-19 unit after another hospital told him he should stay home and leave his illness, which has progressed from a diagnosis COVID-19 for double pneumonia.
Peden said he is happy to be alive and is content to call in the New Year with a call to his son and daughter on the hospital bed.
“I would love to be home, but so would everyone else,” Peden said. “I will be happy when 2020 disappears. It’s been a heck of a year for the whole world. “
Report by Callaghan O’Hare in Houston; Additional reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Daniel Wallis and David Goodman