Nurses fighting against the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea spend half an hour every day applying bandages across their faces to avoid painful sores caused by their protection suits.
The wrappings are worn like badges of honour during their eight-hour shifts at the Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital.
The hospital is in the southern city at the centre of what has become the largest national outbreak outside of China – where the virus first emerged.
Nurse Park Hye-mi poses for a photograph during a break between shifts. She is wearing wrappings across her forehead to protect herself from painful sores
The pads, plasters and tape protect their faces from developing lesions while wearing their protective gear for hours on end.
Nurse Kim Eun-hee said: ‘I’m trying hard.’
Teams of full-time and volunteer nurses operate at the hospital – which is one of the biggest in Daegu.
They have been lauded for their efforts online, as one comment on South Korea’s Naver portal read: ‘You guys are truly heroes to me. I am infinitely grateful to you.’
Kim Min-su is one of the nurses at the Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital wearing plasters to protect her forehead from her protective gear
The hospital where Shim Hyoung-chul (pictured) works is at the centre of what has become the largest national outbreak outside of China – where the virus first emerged
Letters of support are also displayed at the hospital. ‘The whole nation is behind you,’ read one, from a well-wisher who sent thermometers and snacks.
Around 200 nurses are working eight-hour shifts at the facility, hospital representative Jung Sang-min told AFP, nearly half of them volunteers.
‘More nurses wear bandages than doctors because they spend more time tending patients,’ he said, adding that it takes about half an hour to don the protective suits they wear.
The pads, plasters and tape protect nurse Kim Do-yeon’s face from developing lesions while she is wearing her protective gear for hours on end
Around 200 nurses (pictured) are working eight-hour shifts at the facility, hospital representative Jung Sang-min told AFP, nearly half of them volunteers
Nurse Park Kyung-mi poses for a portrait on a break between shifts caring for patients infected with the COVID-19 novel coronavirus
‘The nurses are the ones who truly dedicate the most in this fight,’ Jung said.
South Korea on Friday reported 110 new infections, its lowest for three weeks, and for the first time the figure was less than the number of recovered patients discharged.
Nurse Park Hye-mi told AFP: ‘Soon something good will happen.’
It comes after social media posts revealed Italian nurses have been bruised by constant face mask use and left slumped over their desks from exhaustion as they battle the coronavirus crisis.
South Korea on Friday reported 110 new infections, its lowest for three weeks. Pictured, nurse Yang Uewl-rock
The nurses, including Lee Da-eun (pictured), were in high spirits during their breaks despite gruelling shifts
One nurse, Alessia Bonari, posted a picture of her bruised face after wearing protective gear for hours during a shift in Milan.
Describing life at the hospital, she revealed how she could not drink or go to the bathroom for six hours after putting on her protective gear.
Another nurse, Elena Pagliarini, was pictured slumped over her desk while still wearing her mask at a hospital in Cremona where she had been working around the clock.
Teams of full-time and volunteer nurses operate at the hospital – which is one of the biggest in Daegu. Pictured, medical workers in their protective clothing
Nurses carry food during a shift-change at the hospital as they take a break from caring for those suffering from COVID-19
Italy has seen 631 deaths and more than 10,000 confirmed cases since the outbreak began with hospitals becoming ‘overwhelmed’ by the crisis.
Bonari, the nurse with the bruised face, described in a social media post how she feared she would be infected during her work at the hospital.
‘I’m afraid too, but not to go shopping, I’m afraid to go to work,’ she said.
‘I am afraid because the mask may not adhere well to the face, or I may have accidentally touched myself with dirty gloves.
‘Or maybe the lenses do not completely cover my eyes and something may have passed.
Alessia Bonari, a nurse in northern Italy, posted this picture of her bruised face after wearing a protective face mask for hours during a shift in Milan
‘I am physically tired because the protective devices are bad, the lab coat makes me sweat and once dressed I can no longer go to the bathroom or drink for six hours.
‘I am psychologically tired, as are all my colleagues who have been in the same condition for weeks.
The nurse also appealed to Italians to obey the quarantine rules which were announced on Monday in an unprecedented nationwide lockdown.
Another nurse, Elena Pagliarini, was pictured slumped over her desk at a hospital in Cremona where she had been working around the clock
Describing life at the hospital, Alessia (pictured) revealed how she could not drink or go to the bathroom for six hours after putting on her protective gear
‘I will continue to take care of and take care of my patients, because I am proud and in love with my job,’ she said.
‘What I ask anyone who is reading this post is not to frustrate the effort we are making, to be selfless, to stay at home and thus protect those who are most fragile.
‘We young people are not immune to coronavirus, we too can get sick, or worse, we can get sick.
‘I can’t afford the luxury of going back to my quarantined house, I have to go to work and do my part. You do yours, I ask you please.’
A map showing the latest virus cases around the world, with Italy now recording the highest number of cases outside mainland China
Elena Pagliarini, a nurse in Cremona, was pictured collapsed at her desk in a photo shared by industry website Nurse Times.
The nurse had fallen asleep while still wearing her face mask and surgical gown with Italian hospitals ‘overwhelmed’ by the crisis.
‘We are all tested in body and mind, seeing all those sick people, asking for help with our eyes,’ a fellow medic who took the picture said.
A medic wearing a protective suit and face mask works at a triage centre in Brescia, in the region of Lombardy which has been worst affected by the crisis
‘We started at 8pm. We had been working tirelessly for over ten hours.
‘I saw Elena rest 5 minutes after hours spent running from one patient to another, trying to help yet another patient who came with a fever and respiratory failure.’
Medics have already described how hospitals are running at ‘200 per cent capacity’ with operating theatres hurriedly converted into intensive care units.
Doctors have been forced into life-or-death decisions over who should receive intensive care, with virus cases piling up around the country.
Health workers at a checkpoint in Brescia in northern Italy, where the outbreak has become one of the worst outside mainland China
Non-coronavirus cases are being sidelined with some medics being given a ‘leaflet’ and told to perform specialist tasks for which they are not qualified, while some patients over 65 are not even being assessed, one doctor in northern Italy said.
The doctor also issued a warning for the UK, saying that the Italian chaos would repeat itself in Britain ‘if you don’t take it seriously’.
The warning was echoed by a second doctor who suggested people should be more scared, saying that overzealous warnings to remain calm meant ‘the danger of what is happening does not reach people’.
Beds are laid out at a checkpoint in Brescia, with the number of people in intensive care also rising rapidly
Experts have suggested that the UK outbreak is around two weeks behind that in Italy, meaning Britain could be heading for a similar nightmare within a fortnight.
Italy’s latest figures show that 631 people have died from coronavirus and 10,149 have been infected.
The 168 new deaths announced on Tuesday, representing a 36 per cent rise, the largest increase in absolute numbers since the contagion reached Italy on February 21.
The number of intensive care patients has also risen by 144 to 877 nationwide.
Italy imposed a nationwide quarantine on Monday night in the most drastic measures that any country has taken so far outside China.
Prime minister Giuseppe Conte declared that ‘everyone must give up something to protect the health of citizens’ as he announced the lockdown.
Anyone with a fever has been ordered to stay indoors, with travel banned except in emergencies, and public gatherings including weddings and sports fixtures shut down.