'You Feel Isolated': Doctor Works 256 Straight Days Amid Pandemic

ACROSS AMERICA — People who are hospitalized with the coronavirus are not just battling the virus — they are fighting isolation, too. That's the observation of at least one doctor, one who has worked for 256 consecutive days during the pandemic.

Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, was photographed on Thanksgiving Day consoling an elderly man who just wanted to be home with his wife. The photo was shared widely, depicting the helpless feeling experienced by many of the more than 96,000 Americans currently hospitalized with the virus.

"As I'm going inside my COVID unit, I see that this elderly patient is out of his bed and trying to get out of the room, and he's crying. So, I get close to him and I tell him, 'Why are you crying?' and the man says, 'I want to be with my wife,' " Varon told CNN this week. "So, I just grab him, I hold him. I did not know that I was being photographed at that time."

The man, who Varon said is improving and could be back home by the end of the week, is an example of the many patients the doctor has interacted with every day since March.

"You are inside a room where people come in in 'spacesuits,' and you have no communication with anybody else, only by phone if you're lucky," Varon said. "I mean, it's very difficult. And when you are an elderly individual, it's even more difficult because you feel that you are alone.

"You feel isolated."

The Latest

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 13.7 million on Wednesday, the same day the country also reported a record number of people hospitalized because of the virus.

Nearly 100,000 people were hospitalized in the United States on Tuesday, straining hospitals and prompting bed shortages in several states — Rhode Island, New Mexico and California, to name a few.

More than 2,500 deaths were also reported on Tuesday, making it the second-deadliest day of the pandemic.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, the United Kingdom became the first country to grant approval to the coronavirus vaccine developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Distribution of the first 800,000 doses will begin next week, with the elderly and nursing home residents receiving first priority, according to The Washington Post.

On Tuesday, members of the Trump administration summoned Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, to the White House to explain why U.S. regulators have not yet approved the Pfizer vaccine.

Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, called for the session out of concern that the British government would approve the vaccine before the United States, hence embarrassing the Trump administration. The meeting was reported earlier by Axios.

So far, reports from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna have touted a vaccine effectiveness rate at higher than 90 percent. AstraZeneca has said trials show its vaccine's effectiveness at higher than 78 percent.

Citing the spiraling rise in coronavirus cases nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday warned Americans not to travel over the holidays. The agency also outlined new recommended quarantine times for people who may have been exposed to the coronavirus, especially those who may choose to travel anyway.

After previously recommending a 14-day quarantine period, the CDC now says those without symptoms may end quarantine after seven days, followed by a negative test for the virus, or after 10 days without a negative test.

The CDC made the decision to shorten the recommended times hoping it would prompt compliance from many Americans.

A day prior, a CDC panel also met to craft guidance on who should get the coronavirus vaccine first once it's approved in the United States.

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices deemed health care workers and residents and staff of nursing homes to be the highest-priority group to be vaccinated in "phase 1A," the Post and others reported.

But the guidance released by the CDC is exactly that — guidance. The decision on how to distribute the vaccine and who should receive it first will ultimately fall to states.

As Americans approach the end of 2020 and the expiration date of another batch of economic lifelines, Congress this week started talks on yet another new iteration of a coronavirus stimulus bill.

A bipartisan group of senators unveiled an approximately $908 billion stimulus proposal Tuesday. Negotiations on a new measure have been at an impasse since talks collapsed over the summer and again ahead of the November election.

The new proposal seeks to reach a middle ground on a number of contentious issues. It would provide $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits, $240 billion in funding for state and local governments, and a six-month moratorium on some coronavirus-related lawsuits against firms and other entities.

Finally, it has still been less than a year since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in the United States, but recent research suggests the virus may have been here before the first case was reported on Jan. 19.

An analysis of CDC data shows coronavirus antibodies were found last December in a number of blood samples taken by the American Red Cross in California, Oregon and Washington state.

Newest Numbers

At least 2,506 new coronavirus deaths and 181,769 new cases were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post database. Over the past seven days, the United States has averaged more than 162,000 cases each day.

As of Wednesday, 43 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 13.7 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday morning, and more than 271,300 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

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