Stories From Spain And France Describe The Emotional Exhaustion Experienced By Global Medical Workers Due To COVID-19

Photo illustration (SJ Objio / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 pandemic has begun to attack the mental aspect. Medical personnel in Spain and France were stricken with emotional exhaustion. This condition made them take to the streets demanding partiality from the authorities.

In France, hundreds of medical personnel rallied on the Nice Riviera on Thursday, October 15. In this action, the joint doctor and nurse demanded that the policy owner hire more health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medical personnel say the condition is becoming increasingly difficult for them with many medical personnel starting to become emotionally exhausted. Launch Reuters , Thursday, October 15th, the protesters seemed to gather in front of a post office in Nice Riviera.

Medical personnel representatives then ceremonially sent postcards bearing their complaint to President Emmanuel Macron. In the message, the medics asked Macron to care more about their fate. A large banner with complaint messages was displayed, one of which was: Hire more. Practice more. We're tired.

Mehrere hundert Mitarbeiter aus dem Gesundheitsbereich demonstrieren in den Straßen von #Rennes / Bretagne, erschöpft durch die Arbeitsbedingungen und fordern mehr Ressourcen für Krankenhäuser. #HopitalPublic #soignants #France #Corona #COVID ー 19 pic.twitter.com/mp73w7ID64

- BlxckMosquito (@BlxckMosquito) October 15, 2020

The protesters equipped themselves with large masks, complete with their oversized clothes as medical personnel. They also have one voice calling on Macron to immediately issue an order to increase the number of medical personnel for emergency rooms, nursing homes and raise the salaries of those who are fighting the battle against COVID-19.

COVID-19 patients in France continue to increase after they decided to end the lockdown of the region. It was noted that almost half of all beds available in hospitals in the Paris area were filled with COVID-19 patients. Therefore, medical personnel began to protest in big cities, such as Paris, Nantes, and Nice.

So far, France has confirmed 788,117 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 32,788 cases died.

The same thing happened in Spain. Head of Nursing at the Infanta Sofia Hospital, Madrid said the surge in COVID-19 patients has increasingly overwhelmed them. "Right now we have a surge (of patients) which is really overwhelming. We have to increase the number of beds five times as much," Dr Miguel Angel Gonzalez Gallego, told CNA , Thursday, October 15.

Apart from the addition of patients, Gonzalez revealed another problem, namely the shortage of personal protective equipment and other medical equipment. That is why medical personnel are under increasing emotional stress.

"Then suddenly you find yourself with the plague continuing to threaten. It produces a feeling of emotional exhaustion that we didn't experience during the first wave," Gonzalez said.

Previously, since Spain did not enforce regional locks, the transmission rate of COVID-19 has continued to soar. That is what makes medical personnel seem overwhelmed because quite a lot of COVID-19 patients are hospitalized. However, the condition is far under control because those with acute COVID-19 symptoms are relatively lower.

The everyday scenery at the Infanta Sofia Hospital is the same. Every day medical personnel always protect themselves by using double masks, complete with other protective equipment. This method is done so that they can come into direct contact with patients who they say are an injection of enthusiasm against COVID-19.

"We still have a lot of sick people being treated and we're not seeing a clear decline to be very optimistic about," he added.

So far, Spain has confirmed 908,056 cases of COVID-19 transmission. Among them, there were 33,413 cases died.