IOWA, USA —
The number of COVID-19 patients in Iowa's hospitals has skyrocketed over the last two months, overwhelming hospital capacity and the people who care for patients.
Daily hospitalizations have more than doubled, from 718 on Nov. 1 to 1,527 on Nov. 17.
After months of asking Iowans to do the right thing, Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a targeted mask mandate on Nov. 10 in an effort to limit the strain on the state's hospital system.
Less than a week later, Reynolds ordered restaurants and bars to close at 10 p.m., prohibited gatherings of 15 or more people and implemented a statewide mask mandate.
Local 5 is sharing the stories of front-line workers, their spouses and Iowans who have lost loved ones to the virus.
The pandemic from an ICU nurse's perspective
Manda Sundberg, a COVID ICU with MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, works 14-hour days.
“It’s emotionally stressful," Sundberg said.
The hospital now has two COVID units to keep up with the incoming patients. Sundberg described the two COVID ICU units as tense.
"We have a lot of very sick patients. There’s a lot of running around," she explained. "If you’re not helping your patients, you’re helping another nurse with her patients or his patients. It’s a very busy environment.”
Sundberg's experience involves every part of the coronavirus, including death. She said she has been in the room when a patient has died from the virus.
Sundberg said those that claim the virus isn't real should know that it is, in fact, very real.
“This is real. This is something we haven’t experienced before. As an ICU nurse I’ve never seen before.”
Current challenges of being a nurse
As more Iowans test positive for the coronavirus, hospitals are becoming more and more overwhelmed by the influx of patients seeking treatment.
“There’s no real end in sight," said Mandy Schiefert, the manager at the UnityPoint Methodist Emergency Department.
UnityPoint is facing a new challenge with the surge of cases: staff being infected by the virus that they are helping patients fight off.
"That is a new challenge we are facing and trying to overcome," Schiefert said. "This isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.”
"The hardest thing is, you talk to nurses that have been here 40 years and health care workers that have been doing this and really can't compare anything to this and that is very hard and challenging."
UnityPoint told Local 5 they are looking for help on finding more beds for COVID-positive patients.