Doctor hugs elderly coronavirus patient on Thanksgiving in viral photo
HOUSTON, TX - NOVEMBER 26: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Dr. Joseph Varon hugs and comforts a patient in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) during Thanksgiving at the United Memorial Medical Center on November 26, 2020 in Houston, Texas. According to repo
HOUSTON, Texas - A touching moment between a doctor and a distraught patient suffering from coronavirus is being shared across social media.
According to Yahoo!, Dr. Joseph Varon, chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, has been working for 251 days straight due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Thanksgiving Day was no exception.
With a ward full of coronavirus patients, Dr. Varon showed the true compassion of health care workers. Dressed in full PPE, the doctor is seen comforting an elderly patient in the hospital’s intensive-care unit.
“I am grateful to witness a wonderful moment and I thank all the medical staffs for their hard work even during the holiday season,” wrote photographer Go Nakamura on Facebook, who captured the tender moment.
According to reports, Texas has reached over 1,220,000 cases, including over 21,500 deaths.
New estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. may be worse than was previously known.
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There may have been as many as 53 million coronavirus cases in the U.S. by the end of September, the CDC reported. That would be nearly eight times as many cases as had been reported by that time.
The CDC says that government mandates that require people to wear masks in public help slow the spread of COVID-19.