Tear-jerking video shows Chicago nurse setting up a virtual visit for family of 85-year-old COVID-19 hospital patient and telling them 'she blinked her eyes, she heard you' as they call 'I love you' from the screen
A tear-jerking video shows a Chicago nurse setting up a virtual hospital visit for the family of an 85-year-old COVID-19 patient and telling them 'she blinked her eyes, she heard you' as they call 'I love you' from the screen.
Registered nurse Alma Abad has been taking care of Florence Bolton in the intensive care unit at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, as the elderly woman battles the deadly virus.
As well as treating her for the virus, Abad has also been setting up video calls with Bolton's family so they can spend some time with their sick relative from afar, amid a ban on most hospital visitors during the pandemic.
This comes as daily new cases in Illinois topped five figures for the third time in the last four days, and more than 5,000 residents are hospitalized across the state.
A tear-jerking video shows a Chicago nurse setting up a virtual hospital visit for the family of an 85-year-old COVID-19 patient and telling them 'she blinked her eyes, she heard you' as they call 'I love you' from the screen
The heart-wrenching footage, shot by Reuters, shows Bolton lying in bed with an oxygen mask on.
Abad, who is dressed in full personal protective equipment, takes off Bolton's mask and angles the screen above her bed so her family can see her face.
'Hey, Grandma,' Bolton's family says.
The nurse tries to gently bring her round to see her family before she puts the mask back on her face.
'She heard your voice,' Abad tells the family.
'I love you,' they tell their grandmother.
Abad says: 'She blinked her eyes. She heard you.'
Video and audio calls is the only form of contact most COVID-19 patients can have with their loved ones from their hospital beds.
Most hospitals have banned visitors to limit the risk of exposing non-COVID patients, staff and visitors to the virus.
Registered nurse Alma Abad has been taking care of Florence Bolton in the intensive care unit at Roseland Community Hospital in Chicago, Illinois
The elderly woman is battling the deadly virus and her family cannot come and visit in person
As well as treating her for the virus, Abad has also been setting up video calls with Bolton's family so they can spend some time with their sick relative from afar
The heart-wrenching footage, shot by Reuters, shows Bolton lying in bed with an oxygen mask on as Abad takes it off and moves the screen so her family can see her
Health officials in Illinois reported more than 10,000 new cases of the virus Friday, taking the state's total to 770,088 infections and 12,974 deaths.
A total of 10,526 new cases were reported Friday, marking the third time in the last four days that infections broke the 10,000 mark.
Another 148 people died in the last 24 hours - two days after the state recorded its deadliest day since the pandemic began with 238 deaths reported on Wednesday.
Thursday also marked America's deadliest day on record since the virus first started ravaging the nation.
A total of 2,879 Americans died of coronavirus yesterday, up from its previous single-day record of 2,804 just one day earlier and equivalent to one American dying every 30 seconds.
The number of daily cases and hospitalizations also reached single-day highs with 217,664 new confirmed infections and 100,667 patients.
Of those hospitalized, 19,442 are in the ICU and 6,967 are on ventilators, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
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