Virus tests hospitals in pockets of U.S. as some states reopen

SILVER SPRING, MD. » From a hospital on the edge of the Navajo Nation to the suburbs of the nation’s capital, front-line medical workers in coronavirus hot spots are struggling to keep up with a crushing load of patients while lockdown restrictions are lifting in many other parts of the U.S.

Governors are starting to slowly reopen some segments of their local economies, pointing to evidence that COVID-19 deaths and new hospitalizations are peaking or starting to recede in their states. But a government whistleblower warned Thursday that the U.S. faces its “darkest winter in modern history” unless leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the virus.

While many state and local officials see modest signs of progress in the pandemic fight, coronavirus outbreaks are testing public health networks in pockets of the U.S.

Among them is a suburb of Washington, D.C. The head of a hospital system in Maryland’s Prince George’s County, a majority black community bordering the city, said the area’s intensive care units “are bursting at the seams.” Meanwhile, a civil rights group’s lawsuit claimed the county’s jail failed to stop an “uncontrolled” coronavirus outbreak and isolated infected prisoners in cells with walls covered in feces, mucus and blood.

“I would say we are the epicenter of the epicenter,” said Dr. Joseph Wright, interim CEO of University of Maryland Capital Region Health.

The hospital in Gallup, New Mexico, is on the front lines of a grinding outbreak on the Navajo Nation that recently prompted a 10-day lockdown with police setting up roadblocks to discourage non-emergency shopping.

Medical workers last week staged a protest over inadequate staffing and to urge the CEO of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital to resign. The departure last week of the hospital’s lung specialist has limited its ability to treat COVID-19 patients, as people with acute respiratory symptoms are transported to Albuquerque some two hours away. About 17 nurses were cut from the hospital’s workforce in March, at least 32 workers have tested positive for the virus and its intensive care unit is at capacity.

“My staff is physically exhausted, emotionally exhausted and they are suffering from moral injury,” chief nursing officer Felicia Adams said.

Meanwhile, in Washington, Rick Bright, a vaccine expert who alleges he was ousted from a highlevel scientific post after warning the Trump administration to prepare for the pandemic, told a congressional panel that the U.S. lacks a plan to produce and fairly distribute a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available.

Asked by lawmakers if Congress should be worried, Bright, who wore a protective mask while testifying, responded: “Absolutely.”

President Donald Trump dismissed Bright in a tweet Thursday as “a disgruntled employee.” The White House has launched what it calls “Operation Warp Speed” to quickly produce, distribute and administer a vaccine once it becomes available.

Bright’s testimony follows a warning earlier in the week from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, that rushing to lift restrictions could “turn back the clock” and lead to more suffering and death, complicating efforts to get the economy rolling again.

The U.S. has the largest coronavirus outbreak in the world by far: more than 1.4 million infections and nearly 85,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, the virus has infected more than 4.4 million and killed more than 300,000. Experts say the actual numbers are likely far higher.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Jason Antos, an Advanced EMT for Rescue Inc., puts a COVID-19testing swab up the nasal passage of Anya Wolfe, of Wardsboro, Vt., during a pop-up COVID-19testing clinic at the Brattleboro Union High School’s parking lot in Brattleboro, Vt., Thursday, May 14. The clinics are part of the state’s efforts to ramp up testing and prevent the spread of COVID-19.