Brooklyn mourns as nightmare unfolds in city that never sleeps

VICTOR VIZCAINO was at his mother’s hospital bedside in her final hours. As a trainee doctor, he knew the prognosis was not great. As a son, he prayed for a miracle.

There is no good death in the age of Covid-19, but at least when the time came she was not alone, he told himself.

“I did my best to keep her spirits up, Facetime friends and family for her to see,” said the medical student at Brooklyn Hospital Centre, where his mother, Sandra Santos-vizcaino, was admitted. “I was able to be with her, holding her hand, up until her last breath.”

The virus has now claimed the lives of 58,000 Americans. A third of the victims are from Ms Santos-vizcaino’s hometown, New York. Almost half of New Yorkers know someone who has died, according to a recent poll.

When his mother contracted the virus, Mr Vizcaino, 27, was not worried at first. The primary school teacher was what he called a “young 54” and medically fit.

She last reported to work at Public School 9 (PS9) in the Prospect Heights neighbourhood of Brooklyn on March 19, while city schools were closed for students but open for teachers planning the shift to remote learning.

The New York Education Board faced criticism for not acting faster to shut schools down as other states had done.

Ms Santos-vizcaino stayed late, finishing paperwork and phoning parents. She was every PS9 student’s favourite teacher.

Days later, she started feeling unwell. It began with the cough and fever. Then came the breathing problems.

Ms Santos-vizcaino had always been the carer – whether to her own children or her pupils at school – but now it was her turn to be taken care of.

On March 26, Mr Vizcaino called a colleague at Brooklyn Hospital Centre, where he had been doing his rotations, and asked if he could bring her in.

The X-rays showed her lungs were in bad shape, among the worst they had seen in Covid-19 patients of her age.

The virus has been a scourge on those from black and Hispanic backgrounds. In the US, 27 per cent of those who have died have been Africanamerican, more than twice their share of the population. In New York, the Latino community has recorded the highest death rate per 100,000 people of any racial group.

Dominican-born Ms Santos-vizcaino is one of 25 teachers and 26 teachers’ aides in the city known to have died from the virus, the majority of whom from minority groups.

While Mr Vizcaino was not treating his mother, he was involved in her care as her next-of-kin. His father Felix and sister Viviana were not allowed to visit.

“As her condition worsened she was too medically sedated to respond to me, but I was still there to hold her hand,” said Mr Vizcaino.

The afternoon of March 31, she took her last breath in Bed 10 of the ICU at Brooklyn Hospital Center, New York.

That day the number of deaths in the US reached 4,000. The toll began doubling every 48 hours shortly after that.

So great was the backlog at funeral homes and crematoriums, some families had to wait weeks to recover their loved ones.

The Vizcainos were lucky enough to be spared the indignity. The following Saturday, a small group of family and friends said their goodbyes.

Mr Vizcaino said his mother had recently decided to retire and move back to the Dominican Republic. She had dreams of setting up a school there for children with disabilities.

“I just hope my sister and I can get that done for her,” he said.