TOO CLOSE TO COVID FOR COMFORT
AS MOST of Britain enjoys a relaxing of the rules, this insightful documentary from TV doctor twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken serves as a stern reminder that we are still in the middle of a terrifying pandemic.
Chris is an infectious diseases doctor at University College London Hospitals and has been called back to the frontlines, where he witnesses the devastation first hand.
Meanwhile, Xand, who is volunteering with humanitarian aid groups, was struck down by coronavirus, which has taken its toll.
As the brothers watch the crisis close-up, this film has special access to UCLH as it deals with the pandemic on its infection wards, and also gives an insight into Xand’s experience.
“I know how nasty it can be,” says Xand, who lives alone and has struggled being alone through lockdown.
Since contracting coronavirus, Xand has been
left with heart problems, eventually being rushed to A&E where he needed to be defibrillated.
There are tense and emotional scenes as Chris watches on.
“I wasn’t expecting the flatline for quite so long afterwards,” he says.
In other scenes, Xand visits a care home that has been hit badly by Covid, losing seven residents to the disease in just 12 days. And at the hospital, cameras follow the plight of patient Florentino, a Portuguese restaurateur who has been on life support for weeks.
“Every day we’re getting bad news,” says his daughter Denise. “But I have to stay strong. I have to have hope.”
Warns Chris: “We are still so vulnerable to every aspect of this virus.”