'I'm afraid too': Nurse shares harrowing photo after shift
The image of a nurse with a bruised face has shown the reality medical staff face during the coronavirus lockdown in Italy.
Alessia Bonari posted the photo on her Instagram account to show the marks left behind from working long hours as a nurse in a Milan hospital wearing ill-fitting hazmat goggles.
“I am physically tired because the protective devices are bad,” the 23-year-old wrote, along with the photo showing red marks left behind from protective eyewear.
Ms Bonari said that she was forced to work through Italy’s national lockdown and conditions were at their worst as hospital staff try to protect themselves while being in constant contact with those infected with the virus.
“I’m afraid too but not to go shopping, I'm afraid to go to work,” the young nurse said.
“I'm afraid because the mask may not adhere well to the face, or I may have accidentally touched myself with dirty gloves, or maybe the lenses do not completely cover my eyes and something may have passed,” she wrote.
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The nurse said that once fully dressed in the protective clothing provided, it made the long shifts even more uncomfortable.
“The lab coat makes me sweat and once dressed I can no longer go to the bathroom or drink for six hours,” she said.
The photo uploaded on Monday has attracted more than 16,000 comments and almost half a million likes as the nurse called for the public to respect tired medical staff and urged the public to follow the strict quarantine laws and stay at home.
“I can't afford the luxury of going back to my quarantined house, I have to go to work and do my part. You do yours, I ask you please,” she wrote.
Despite being scared and exhausted, Ms Bonari ended her post stating she will continue to work.
“I am psychologically tired, and as are all my colleagues who have been in the same condition for weeks, but this will not prevent us from doing our job as we have always done,” the nurse vowed.
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