What It’s Like on the Front Lines of America’s Battle With Coronavirus
A surge of virus patients pushes the U.S. health system to the breaking point.
A doctor stands inside a testing tent at St. Barnabas hospital on March 20, 2020 in New York City.
Photographer: Misha Friedman/Getty ImagesFrom behind his N95 mask and fogged-up face shield, Jolion McGreevy, director of the emergency department at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital, looked at the four members of his medical team, who were pulling on their own layers of protective gear.
It was Wednesday. McGreevy, 39, reviewed the chart detailing the condition of the patient waiting in the room he and his charges were about to enter: respiratory issues, low oxygenation, likely Covid-19 infection. The patient lay in a negative-pressure room, where air is held tightly to contain a pathogen. “Is everybody ready?” asked McGreevy, who’s worked at the Upper East Side campus just under two years. The others met his gaze from behind their face shields and nodded: Good to go.