According to state officials, positivity has plateaued and cases are decreasing statewide. Those numbers do not show the impact holiday gatherings may have on the spread of the virus.
At a press conference on Thursday, Chief Medical Executive Joneigh Khaldun said the numbers were reason for “cautious optimism” about the future.
But in spite of this, at some hospitals across the state bed capacity is at - or close to - 100%. One of those hospitals is Covenant in Saginaw. The hospital has 200 COVID patients according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 35 of which are in the ICU.
One nurse at the Covenant hospital in Saginaw spoke with WCMU under the condition of anonymity. They said nurses are frustrated with the apathy the public has shown towards the virus - especially given the horrific conditions some patients are in.
“I can’t show you the man whose half of his face was sloughing off because we couldn’t turn him from his prone position for over 36 hours because he could not oxygenate,” they said. “He would have died if we flipped him.”
The nurse felt that the public hasn’t fully comprehended how bad the virus can be - and how many people are at risk.
“To do CPR and break ribs on a 90-year-old woman because her family doesn’t believe us, doesn’t believe us that COVID is real,” they said. “Her family believes that this is all a hoax and won’t make her a DNR even though I can look at her when she comes in and tell you she isn’t going to make it.”
In speaking out about some of the things they’ve seen the nurse hopes the public will understand this virus needs to be taken seriously.
“I can’t show the general public the absolute horrific bullshit that I have to see every day because I believe that most of them would change their tune if they could see the wounds and the pain these people are in,” they said.
The nurse’s message to state residents: Please wear a mask and stay home over the holidays.
“The level of apathy I see,” they said. “It’s a slight inconvenience and you can’t do that to save the lives of people who are dying every day? That, to me, is subhuman.”
Healthcare officials warn that the long-term stress of the pandemic may lead to many healthcare workers leaving the profession, exacerbating existing state and national shortages.