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Hospital Worker Dies From Coronavirus, Found With 4-Year-Old Child by Her Side; NYC Nursing Manager Dies at Age 48, Staff Forced to Wear Trash Bags; and Los Angeles Is Shutting Off Power, Water to Nonessential Businesses Who Refuse to Close.
Police found 42-year-old Diedre Wilkes dead in her living room after contracting coronavirus. Officials found a 4-year-old child by her side after a family member requested a welfare check to Wilkes’ home in Georgia.
The coroner, Richard Hawk, told NBC News that they believe she died 12-16 hours before her body was found. Wilkes did not have any known underlying health conditions. A posthumous test came back positive for COVID-19.
She worked at Piedmont Newnan Hospital, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A spokesperson from the hospital said that the staff was “deeply saddened when the coroner notified us of the sudden passing of our colleague.”
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The hospital has now contacted employees in their care who may have come in contact with Wilkes, according to a statement released by the hospital.
Piedmont is providing these individuals with detailed information for self-monitoring and will offer COVID-19 testing to those who request it. This employee did not work in an area treating known or suspected COVID-19 patients.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the employee’s family during this difficult time.”
48-year-old Kious Kelly died in Manhattan on Tuesday night at Mount Sinai West hospital. This happened one week after he was admitted after testing positive for coronavirus.
He was an assistant nursing manager at Mount Sinai West. That hospital, like many, has been hit by an urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE), such as isolation gowns and masks. Those items are in such short supply, the workers are wearing trash bags.
In a shocking photo posted to Facebook, three nurses wear makeshift trash-bag gowns, with a caption that reads: “NO MORE GOWNS IN THE WHOLE HOSPITAL.”
“NO MORE MASKS AND REUSING THE DISPOSABLE ONES… NURSES FIGURING IT OUT DURING COVID-19 CRISIS.”
Mount Sinai Health System wrote in a statement to DailyMail that they are “deeply saddened by the passing of a beloved member of our nursing staff.”
“The safety of our staff and patients has never been of greater importance and we are taking every precaution possible to protect everyone.”
“But this growing crisis is not abating and has already devastated hundreds of families in New York and turned our frontline professionals into true American heroes. Today, we lost another hero – a compassionate colleague, friend, and selfless caregiver.”
At least four other staffers who worked with Kelly have now have the virus. There were nine COVID-19 patients in his monitoring unit, according to the Post.
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Nonessential businesses are still refusing to close during the coronavirus outbreak. They may soon have their power and water shut off, according to local reports in LA.
A press release posted on Mayor Eric Garcetti’s website reads,
“We won’t tolerate the selfish behavior of a few who unnecessarily put our community at risk.”
Garcetti plans to strictly enforce his “Safer at Home” emergency shelter-in-place order.
Let me be clear: it is unacceptable for non-essential businesses to continue their operations as normal.
I announced the Safer at Home Business Ambassadors Program to help ensure businesses comply with our emergency order to keep our communities safe. https://t.co/7eMFdg1PSa
— Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) March 25, 2020
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Garcetti called the nonessential businesses who remain open “irresponsible and selfish.”
He has announced a program where volunteers and city workers will check on defiant businesses. The group will urge the business to shut down voluntarily. They refer to the group as “business ambassadors.”
If they refuse, the business ambassadors will report the situation to the police. Those in the public who have access to cell service can also report noncompliance via the mayor’s website.
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