'So many patients dying': Doctors say NYC public hospitals reeling from coronavirus cases

A doctor at a major public hospital in New York City described having worn a single N95 mask, a critical tool in protection from the coronavirus, for an entire week. Normally, the Brooklyn doctor would change it after every visit with a patient. Colleague after colleague, including nurses and residents, have been falling sick with the virus. Patients were coming in for unrelated health issues and suddenly testing positive for coronavirus after coming to the hospital.

"The situation is quite horrible and they're saying we haven't hit the peak yet and we're doing all sorts of crazy things to keep up," the doctor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. "We're having so many patients dying."

The doctor said medical staff have been fighting over rationed personal protective equipment, pediatric doctors have been asked to care for patients in their 70s and 80s, orthopedic doctors and cardiologists have been asked to help treat coronavirus patients and urologists have been working as senior intensive care unit staff.

"They're pulling in doctors from everywhere to deal with the patient load,'' the doctor said. "It's changed the way the whole hospital culture operates."

The doctor said the pandemic was ravaging a public hospital that was "already underresourced and underfunded," showing a critical weakness in the health care system as coronavirus cases continue to overwhelm medical facilities that often serve vulnerable populations.