Iranian nurses at forefront of war on coronavirus

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) - A photo of an Iranian nurse wearing a protective suit and surgical mask while tending to novel coronavirus patients in northern Gilan province has gone viral online.

Narges Khanalizadeh, who treated a number of patients infected with the novel coronavirus in the early days of the outbreak in Iran last month, became infected as well.

She passed away at a hospital in the city of Lahijan in Gilan, becoming the first nurse in Iran to fall victim to the disease.

Khanalizadeh has become a source of inspiration for doctors and nurses spearheading the fight against the virus in Iran, which has the second highest number of fatalities outside China after Italy.

"She was always dedicated in everything she did. Even with high risk to her own life, she didn’t skip her duty at the hospital and took care of patients infected by the coronavirus," her friend Zohre told Anadolu Agency.

"She died in the line of duty, and we are very proud of her."

- Heroes

Doctors and nurses in Iran have emerged as real heroes in the fight against the coronavirus.

"This is an emergency situation and calls for an emergency response,” said a doctor at Imam Khomeini Hospital, one of the biggest hospitals in Tehran.

"I have never seen anything like this in my 12-year tenure as a full-time medic. But this shall pass too."

With more coronavirus cases piling up in Iran, healthcare workers are under tremendous pressure, with many cut off from the world and their families.

A nurse at Kamkar Hospital in Qom city likened it to a "war," saying "the frontline (in this war) are the hospitals" while doctors and nurses are the "soldiers."

"My father served as a volunteer during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and my mother served as a nurse during the same war,” said the nurse, who declined to give her name.

"But this is a different kind of war, and we can’t leave the frontline."

- Sacrifices

There are many stories of personal sacrifices by doctors and nurses during the fight against the novel coronavirus.

The chief nurse at Masih Daneshvari Hospital in Tehran canceled her marriage ceremony in the wake of the outbreak.

Her wedding, which was scheduled for this week, has been postponed for two months, according to her co-workers, who appreciated the “humanitarian gesture.”

While conflicting reports over the extent and severity of the outbreak have created fear and panic among Iranians, the head of the coronavirus unit at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran said there is no need to panic as health workers are leaving no stone unturned in their response to the crisis.

"There is a lot of misinformation regarding the situation in the wake of the outbreak, but I must assure everyone that things are under control and we are duty-bound to provide the best treatment to the patients affected by the virus," he said.

A few nurses have died over the past two weeks, however, and several others are reportedly infected, mostly in Qom, Tehran and Gilan.

After Khanalizadeh, another nurse, Ramin Azizifar, died from the disease at Tehran’s Masih Daneshvari Hospital.

"We still don't have an exact figure for the number of nurses infected by the virus, and there are conflicting reports about the number of deaths too,” said Dr. Kazimzadeh, a medical practitioner in Tehran, who only gave his second name.

"Doctors and nurses are the unsung heroes who have been at the forefront in this battle."