TORONTO -- A Houston doctor who has worked for 256 days straight was seen comforting an elderly man wanting to be with his wife in a photograph that captured the emotional toll of COVID-19 on patients and the resiliency and compassion of health-care workers.
Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas, was photographed by Go Nakamura of Getty Images on American Thanksgiving hugging a patient inside his COVID-19 unit, who said he just wanted 鈥渢o be with my wife.鈥
Nakamura had been following Varon around the ward that day when he took the arresting photograph, according to media interviews with the doctor and the photographer. The image shows Varon dressed in full protective gear and standing, embracing an elderly man who has his head buried in the crook of Varon鈥檚 right arm.
Varon saw the elderly patient out of his bed and trying to leave his room, he told CNN on Monday.
鈥淗e鈥檚 crying,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o I get close to him and I tell him, 鈥榃hy are you crying?鈥 And the man says, 鈥業 want to be with my wife.鈥 So I just grab him and I hold him. I did not know that I was being photographed at the time.鈥
that he has visited the United Memorial COVID-19 intensive care unit about 20 times, and had often seen Varon getting close to patients trying to lift their spirits, but that a hug was still rare.
The patient still cannot see his wife at the moment, Varon told CNN, since they are waiting for his tests to come back negative for the virus. He is 鈥渄oing great鈥, however, and hopefully will be able to leave the hospital before the end of the week, he added.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 very difficult. You can imagine -- you are inside the room where people are coming in, in space suits and you have no communication with anybody else -- only by phone if you鈥檙e lucky.鈥
It is especially hard on elderly patients, who often don鈥檛 understand the necessary process and restrictions in place, he added, so they often try to get out.
鈥淭he patients get so sad, some of them cry, some of them try to escape. We actually had somebody that tried to escape through a window the other day. They are so isolated, they really want out.鈥
His staff is very good at doing this, said Varon, they all 鈥渢ry to be a little bit more human鈥 but there are too many patients so they are not always able to comfort everyone.
鈥淚 was feeling very sorry for him. I was feeling sad, just like him. And I was just recollecting all the patients that I鈥檝e had to do similar things with,鈥 Varon said, when asked what went through his mind as he gave comfort.
Varon, who has been working 256 days non-stop as of Monday, does not know how he copes.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what keeps me going. I don鈥檛 know how I haven鈥檛 broken down,鈥 he said.
鈥淢y nurses have broken down. My nurses cry in the middle of the day because they get so sad because of situations like this -- just seeing a patient crying because he wants to see his family.鈥
What does get to Varon now he says, is frustration.
鈥淔rustration that I do this, day in and day out, and people are out there doing the wrong thing. People are out there in bars, restaurants, malls. I mean it is crazy. It鈥檚 like we work, work, work, work, and people don鈥檛 listen and they end up in my ICU.鈥
Millions of Americans made Thanksgiving travel plans last week despite warnings and pleas from public health experts and healthcare workers to stay home and avoid holiday gatherings. And the country鈥檚 top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, warned that the U.S. could see 鈥surge upon a surge鈥 of new cases in the weeks following Thanksgiving.
Last week, that his hospital was full and that he had opened two new wings to accommodate the expected rise in coronavirus patients. He was worried about the next six to 12 weeks, saying the country could see 鈥渢he darkest days in modern American medical history.鈥
In Texas, where Varon is based, the state reported more than 11,500 infections on Sunday. The state has reported over 1.25 million total cases so far, along with more than 21,900 deaths. Overall, across the United States, hospitalizations due to the virus hit a record high of more than 92,200 patients over the weekend.
鈥淧eople need to know, I don鈥檛 want to be hugging them. They need to do basic things. Keep your social distance, wear your mask, wash your hands and avoid going to places where there are a lot of people. Very simple,鈥 Varon said. 鈥淚f people do that, health-care workers like me will be able to hopefully rest."
