In the past seven days, the state of Texas has reported more than 52,000 new cases of COVID-19 and has attributed more than 2,300 deaths to the disease. Health-care workers continue to struggle to accommodate and care for an increasing number of people needing hospitalization as cases have surged in Texas, Florida, and California. Callaghan O’Hare, a photographer with Reuters, spent time inside Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center over the past month documenting the work being done by the chief medical officer, Dr. Joseph Varon, and his team, under stressful and challenging circumstances. Dr. Varon said, “I’m afraid that at some point in time I’m going to have to make some very serious decisions. I’m starting to get the idea that I cannot save everybody.”
Inside a Houston Hospital During a Coronavirus Surge
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Read moreDr. Joseph Varon, 58, the chief medical officer at United Memorial Medical Center, hugs Christina Mathers, 43, a nurse from his team who became infected with COVID-19 at UMMC during the coronavirus outbreak, in Houston, Texas, on July 25, 2020. Mathers was told she tested positive for COVID-19 after she reported feeling ill during one of her shifts. "That's the hardest thing to ever hear ... It messes with you," said Mathers, who has been working every other day since April 29. "But I wouldn't go anywhere else but here." #
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Read moreDr. Joseph Varon (center) goes over the files of patients infected with COVID-19 at a daily meeting with his team of health-care workers, at UMMC, in Houston, on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreAn X-ray of a COVID-19 patient's lungs is looked over by Dr. Varon on July 10, 2020. #
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Read moreLucy Dombovy, 37, a nurse, wears personal protective equipment as she signals to a colleague while peeking her head out of an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients, at UMMC on July 10, 2020. #
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Read moreA medical school student takes a nap in the break room, as Dr. Varon leads a team treating COVID-19 patients at UMMC on July 10, 2020. #
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Read moreDr. Varon puts on personal protective equipment before treating COVID-19 patients at UMMC, during the coronavirus outbreak, in Houston, on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreEfrain Guevara, 63, who has been hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19, lies on a hospital bed at UMMC, during the coronavirus outbreak in Houston, on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreFernando Olvera, 26, a medical school student, helps Efrain Guevara, who has been hospitalized with COVID-19, get up from his hospital bed, at UMMC on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreOsvaldo Perez, 40, a medical school student, takes a break from treating COVID-19 patients on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreA man delivers balloons to a COVID-19 patient who was missing his daughter's birthday, at UMMC on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreDr. Joseph Varon and a team of health-care workers perform CPR on a COVID-19 patient on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreThe face shield of DeAnndrea Scott, a health-care worker, fogs up as she and a team of health-care workers perform CPR on a COVID-19 patient at UMMC on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreThe body of a patient who died during an intubation procedure is prepared by Flor Trevino, 39, a nurse, to be transported to a morgue, at UMMC on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreA death note written by Dr. Joseph Varon, about a COVID-19 patient who died while being intubated, pictured at Houston's UMMC on July 17, 2020. #
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Read moreDr. Joseph Varon checks his phone after getting home from work, in Houston, Texas, on July 20, 2020. #
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Read moreJonnie Harrison, 70, sleeps in a bed next to her husband Riley Harrison, 67, both of whom have been hospitalized with COVID-19, at UMMC, on July 25, 2020. #
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Read moreFernando Olvera, 26, a medical student, wears a picture of himself around his neck for patients to know what he looks like, while wearing personal protective equipment, as he visits the room of a COVID-19 patient on July 25, 2020. #
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Read moreA television shows the news inside a UMMC laboratory in Houston on July 25, 2020. #
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Read moreLarissa Raudales, 18, who has been hospitalized with COVID-19, sits on a hospital bed as she is checked on by Fernando Olvera, a medical student, on July 25, 2020. "I was terrified ... I thought I couldn't breathe anymore," Raudales said. "I just thought I was going to practically die right there." #
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Read moreFernando Olvera, a health-care worker, places a sign reading "cleaned vent" onto a piece of medical equipment, as Dr. Joseph Varon and his team treat COVID-19 patients at UMMC on July 25, 2020. #
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Read moreHector Ortiz-Garcia, 63, who has been hospitalized with COVID-19, texts members of his family from his hospital bed at UMMC on July 25, 2020. #
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Read moreDr. Joseph Varon, the chief medical officer at UMMC, wears personal protective equipment as he stretches his legs before treating COVID-19 patients on July 25, 2020. "Throughout my life, I have been in major disasters," Varon said. "Nothing has been as difficult to deal with [as] COVID." #
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