In the YouTube clip, bodies from Brooklyn Hospital Center — a 464 bed teaching facility in downtown Brooklyn — are being loaded into a refrigerated truck. The coronavirus has killed over 5,000 people in the United States so far, and the worst-hit area in the country is New York City.

‘They Are Putting Bodies in the 18-Wheeler’

“This is for real,” The unidentified man shooting the film can be heard to call out, his voice breaking with emotion. “This is for real. This is Brooklyn. They [are] putting the bodies in the 18-wheeler.”

New Yorkers are heeding the government’s warnings and taking precautions to try and protect themselves and their families from coronavirus. They are staying indoors, self-isolating, and trying to stay away from one another, but in this city of 8.5 million that is not an easy proposition.

Why Has NYC Been Hit Especially Hard by Covid-19?

Experts have commented that the way New York city is structured with its grids of narrow, claustrophobic streets and high concentrations of people within each of its five boroughs has given impetus to the spread of the coronavirus. In a tightly compacted metropolis with a density of 27,000 people per square mile – twice that of other large cities such as Chicago — and stopping the transmission of Covid-19 was always going to be a struggle.

‘I Believe New York City Will Fall Apart Horribly’

Suzanne — a single parent living in New York — told InsideOver that she had anticipated what might be happening and had planned to take her son back to family in Texas prior to the lockdown.

“I’m getting ready to leave New York for a month,” she told me days before lockdown. “I’m hoping my plane is able to leave … it’s crazy beyond words here. I believe New York City will fall apart horribly.”

I don’t know if she got her flight, despite efforts to contact her I have not heard from her since. Many, however, don’t have these options and have been forced to remain within the city.

“More people are getting sick,” Bob Cooley, a photojournalist and resident of West Village in Lower Manhattan told InsideOver. “But more people are also staying in. Doctors estimate that we should see it get worse for another two weeks in New York, then the curve should hopefully flatten, and that’s due to people staying isolated, and practicing social distancing.”

Central Park Has Become an Emergency Field Hospital

Over in Central Park in the lush green space of East Meadows where normally families play happily on the well-manicured grass in Spring, authorities are now busily turning the area into a massive 1,000-bed field hospital.

“They are setting up triage tents in Central Park,” Bob agreed. “They are fitting our largest convention center — Javits Center — for another 1,000 beds.”

Arrival of the USNS Comfort

A few days ago the the 272-meter USNS Comfort sailed up the Hudson River to a pier on the west side of Manhattan. It’s the same pier where, in normal times, holidaymakers queue expectantly to board cruise ships. But the arrival of the US Navy Mercy-class hospital ship seemed to lift spirits and bring optimism to an otherwise gloomy situation.

“We needed this boost,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference signalling the arrival of the hospital ship. “We needed this hope that is being created by our brothers and sisters in the US Navy, the Marine Corps. Everyone who is here to help us at this crucial moment this ship arrived. It is not just an example of help arriving, a physical form, it is not just about the doctors and equipment, it is also about hope.”

New York is Being Overwhelmed by Covid-19

But there are clear signs that the New York hospital system is becoming overburdened with the number of Covid-19-infected patients being wheeled through its doors.

It is difficult to give accurate data as regards to those infected and those dying from coronavirus, the whole picture is shifting so fast. But, at the time of writing on April 2, 2020, there are a total of 215,300 cases across the USA, and as of today, Thursday, 5,110 people have died.

While all 50 states and the District of Columbia have been impacted, New York state has experienced the most infections with 83,948 recorded cases and 1,941 deaths. Of these 1,941 deaths, over 1,400 are from New York City alone. This compares with California – the whole of California — which had 8,228 cases and 182 deaths as of Wednesday, April 1.

‘The Mood in New York is Bleak’

There is an edginess on the streets of New York that is palpable as people worry, not only about the coronavirus and the risk of infection, but about their finances and their jobs.

“While we are all relatively healthy, the mood in New York is bleak,” Angela Ambrosini from Queens, New York’s biggest borough, told InsideOver. “Considering we are heavily supported by the service industry, four million people all over the USA filed unemployment. [I’m] not sure the… stats in New York city. I think people are starting to get depressed: empty streets, loss of jobs, we cant escape it, yet we are really hoping, too!”

Ambrosini also had the extra worry of having family in Italy, another area of the world that has been especially badly hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Ambrosini tells me her relatives are spread across Italy, some living in the north of the country near Parma, others further south in and around Naples.

New York Pulls Together to Defeat Coronavirus

New York is digging deep, pulling on its resources to prop up an ailing hospital system buckling under the sustained pressure of coronavirus. But it is not giving up. You have to remind yourself this is after all, the most iconic city in the world — the city that never sleeps, the Big Apple. With its world famous landmarks, Times Square, Broadway, the Statue of Liberty, the heroes of 9/11 and those who still kept going even after that dark day.

Today New York is a deserted shell of the city it usually is – and will be again. For now, however, like everywhere else in the world, it has a battle on its hands and a fight to win.

L'articolo New York in the Time of Covid-19 proviene da InsideOver.

Visitors to Hong Kong who come from China will now be quarantined for 14 days without exception following widespread calls for Chief Executive Carrie Lam to do more as the Wuhan coronavirus spreads. The situation has escalated to the point where some Hong Kong doctors have even gone on strike to emphasize their demands for stricter actions to be taken.

Global Deaths From Coronavirus Are Increasing

At midnight Saturday, the order, the “Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance,” came into effect. The measure came following the first Hong Kong death from the virus on Tuesday. Globally, the number of fatalities skyrocketed from 67 to 492 from Tuesday to Wednesday with all but two in mainland China, as James Griffiths reported for CNN.

Doctors first began considering a strike at the beginning of February when the coronavirus had yet to claim a life in Hong Kong, yet doctors feared near-unrestricted access for mainland Chinese visitors would perpetuate and worsen the crisis. 

Hong Kong Medical Workers Unite

Benjamin So was one such doctor who prepared to strike, according to Quartz. Instead of reporting to work at Queen Mary Hospital, he quarantined himself in a hotel room after coming into contact with two patients diagnosed with the virus. At the time, Hong Kong had only 12 confirmed cases. That was only a week ago.

He took the drastic step of quarantining himself at his own expense in order to possibly prevent the spread, although such a measure seems ineffective at combating its inevitable transmission.

So was critical of Lam’s government — its lack of border controls and hospital oversight, in particular.

‘They Haven’t Had Clear Contingency Plans’

“I would say the Hospital Authority has been quite slow in responding to this outbreak and they haven’t had clear contingency plans…it shows how limited our resources are,” So said. “If a full community outbreak does happen there’s no way our medical system can deal with that.”

So was one of more than 6,500 nurses and doctors who vowed to strike if Lam’s government did not appropriately respond to the situation. Although initially Hong Kong closed six ports, it would only stop an estimated 10% of visitors from the mainland. Medical personnel would rather see all 14 ports closed, but so far, Lam refuses to take such a step, opting instead for a 2-week quarantine on arrival. On Monday, five more border crossings were shutdown, leaving three open: Hong Kong International Airport, the Shenzhen Bay joint checkpoint, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.

The effectiveness of this strategy remains to be seen. The last time the government enforced a quarantine, it was under far different circumstances. In 2008, the quarantine was not aimed at the outbreak of a single virus, but rather a list of 45 diseases. 

Medical Strike Began Last Monday And Is Growing

The strike began on Monday with 2,700 medical workers failing to report for work on Monday, forcing delays for cancer treatments and angioplasty surgeries. The next day, 7,000 were absent. 

Winnie Yu, chairperson of the Hospital Authority Employee’s Alliance, spoke on behalf of 9,000 workers in the union. 

“There is still a chance to save Hong Kong from the destiny of turning into another Wuhan, being cut off from the world, patients turned away from fully occupied hospitals, and healthcare staff crumbling under the severe pressure,” Yu said, according to BMJ medical journal.

Yu was pessimistic about Lam’s government preventing the spread with only a partial border closure. Although medical services are being hindered by the strike, workers are likely to find support with a sympathetic general public, which overwhelmingly supports a border closure. The Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute found 78% of 20,000 people in favor of a full border closure and 61% stood behind striking workers.

Lam Responds To The Strike

Lam responded to allegations that politics were driving her decision making by not closing off the city. According to Al Jazeera, Lam said she “certainly would not agree with the allegation that we are not addressing this public health concern adequately. Certainly, I do not agree with the allegation that we are putting politics above public health.”

Furthermore, Lam made clear her position that her government cannot restrict visitors based on their race, saying “we have to treat them all equally.”

The crisis and standoff between doctors and the Hong Kong government is another battle of Lam versus the public. If her willingness to hold out on the Chinese extradition strikes is any indication, Lam will continue to do all she can to have her way, no matter the costs. This time, however, the consequences could be far more severe.

L'articolo Hong Kong Doctors Strike As Coronavirus Spreads proviene da InsideOver.