As the global coronavirus pandemic ensues, last week, the US became the worst-hit country in the world.
According to the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, the US currently has 164,610 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and a death toll now stands at 3,170 (as of this writing). And New York has become the epicenter of America's fight against the novel coronavirus - with 60,000 confirmed cases and more than 900 deaths.
With hospitals in the state being overwhelmed by the surge of admissions, the safety of the frontline medical workers has become paramount amid a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE),
Now, the sister of a New York City nurse who died from coronavirus has shared her brother's heartbreaking final text, in an effort to highlight the risks healthcare workers are being subjected to.
More on this heartbreaking story in the video below:Kious Jordan Kelly worked as an assistant nursing manager at Mount Sinai West, treating patients infected with COVID-19.
Sadly, Kelly - a native of Lansing, Michigan - was hospitalized himself on March 17 after contracting the novel coronavirus and died on Tuesday at age 48. The nurse had also suffered from severe asthma.
Now, Kious' sister, Marya Sherron, has spoken to NBC News about her brother, describing him as having an "infectious energy," adding: "You felt good when he was around and you noticed when he left."
Sherron also shared what would be her brother's final text message to her from the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai where he was placed on a ventilator.
Kious wrote: "Can’t talk because I choke and can’t breathe. I love you. Going back to sleep."
In an interview with NBC News, Sherron said she believes her brother’s death could have been prevented if he had access to the appropriate PPE - such as masks, gowns, and gloves. Marya said: "I absolutely believe that he contracted this because of the lack of PPE in his unit and at his hospital — but that's across our nation."
The Guardian reports that President Trump has faced criticism for the lack of PPE in hospitals, and during yesterday's press conference, the president even suggested that perhaps some of the equipment was being stolen, telling reporters:
"It’s a New York hospital, very - it’s packed all the time. How do you go from 10 to 20 [thousand masks per week] to 300,000? Ten [thousand] to 20,000 masks, to 300,000 - even though this is different? Something is going on, and you ought to look into it as reporters. Are they going out the back door?
"How do you go from 10,000 to 300,000? And we have that in a lot of different places. So somebody should probably look into that, because I just don’t see from a practical standpoint how that’s possible to go from that to that.”
Per NBC News, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently slammed President Trump for suggesting that medical supplies were being stolen, making it clear that hospitals in the stricken state are still preparing for the worst of the deaths. Cuomo said:
"If you are not preparing for the apex and for the high point, you are missing the entire point of the operation. It is a fundamental blunder to only prepare for today, that's why in some ways we are where we are. We've been behind this virus from Day One."