‘Coronavirus warriors’ ask people to follow measures

Nurses in northwestern Turkey fighting the coronavirus pandemic on the front lines said on March 14 they want everyone to follow precautions to reduce the burden on health care professionals.

Working in pandemic and intensive care departments, they have been forced to distance themselves from their families for fear of transmitting the virus to their loved ones but experience the greatest joy when patients recover.

Tansu Timur, one of the nurses at Dr. İsmail Fehmi Cumalıoğlu City Hospital in northwestern Turkey's Tekirdağ province, said dealing with the pandemic has been very difficult for health workers as they have to keep away from their families and social life, but they never complain.

"I just want this process to end. We are happy with the sacrifices we've made. Seeing patients recover is enough for us," said Timur.

"We sacrifice so much and lose nothing. Everyone can make sacrifices," she said, noting that the most important thing is human health and it would be assured when the disease stops spreading through people following the COVID-19 measures.

Nurse Nur Banu Uzun said they have closely witnessed what patients who were infected with the disease were going through.

Emphasizing that thoughts such as 'the pandemic will not affect me' or "Nothing will happen to me" are wrong, Uzun said: "There are people who come to the intensive care unit (ICU) on foot and leave in a worse condition."

"As health workers, we ask people to please do not remove your mask and keep your distance to ease our burden," said Uzun, who advised people not to visit their loved ones and relatives if possible.

"We want the pandemic process to end. We want the disease to end. It's exhausting working so hard and being separated...

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