Corona, that’s in China, not here!?
I now wear a new set of accessories in my work: A respirator, protective suits, shoe and eye protection, and I have two sets of protective gloves on my hands. It scares me, even though I should be able to trust that the protective equipment I have will prevent infection. The protective suits do not breathe. We practised dressing into and, in particular, taking off our protective overalls as a team. Someone else always had to help. The equipment must be removed so that we do not touch its contaminated surfaces. We worked in an eight-person cleaning crew. We anxiously awaited to see if any of us would get symptoms. After work, we were drenched in sweat and sweat ran down from our hair, strange looking people emerged from the protective suits.
I disinfected an emptied office where an infected person had worked. I am scared and anxious about whether I will be exposed to the virus. I then found myself cleaning the home of a person who had died of the virus, and it was the final straw, this was really true. All their possessions will be burnt. We worked in a sheltered living facility where 9 residents had died.
Our pay improved. I’m sorry about the situation nursing staff are in. They are carrying out exceptionally challenging tasks with their former salary. Now that the restrictions are being reversed, I’m really scared. Will we now cause a new wave with indifference?