SUPER HEROES DURING COVID-19 CRISIS

                  Their eyes are tired, their cheekbones rubbed raw from protective masks, they don't smile. The doctors and nurses on the front line of the Coronavirus pandemic in Italy are almost unrecognizable behind their masks, scrubs, gloves and hairnets, the flimsy battle armor donned at the start of each shift as the only barrier to contagion. Associated press photographers fanned out on Friday to photograph them during rare breaks from hospital intensive care units in the Lombardy region cities of Bergamo, Brescia and Rome, in each case, doctors, nurses and paramedics posed in front of forest green surgical draps, the bland backdrop of their sterile wards. Friday was a bad day in Italy as registered the most deaths since the country's outbreak had exploded five weeks earlier, adding 969 more victims to raise the world's highest COVID-19 toll to more than 9,000 which makes Italy surpassed China in total confirmed cases, stands behind the United States. But the National Institutes of Health also said there had been a slowing of infections in recent days, suggesting that a national lock down was starting to show an effect after almost 3 weeks, for medical staff, any letup from the chaotic crush that marked the initial stage of the virus' spread in Italy is welcome, but they know they are nowhere near the end of the emergency, sometimes hospital workers don't drink water or any liquids during their 8 or even 12 hour shifts so they don't have to go to the bathroom and disrobe. They follow strict protocols while taking off their medical suits, gloves and masks, knowing that one wrong move could mean they will catch the virus, already more than 7,100 health care workers around the country got infected, they are sent home to recover and report back to work when they test negative. Their absences are sorely felt, creating more work for those left standing, more than 50 doctors never recovered and they are counted among the dead, the stress in the intensive care unit wards is palpable and the silence deafening, sometimes all you can hear are helicopters taking off and landing outside, transporting another critical patient to a hospital that isn't quite as full. The heroes of Italy's epidemic aren't just treating the sick with respirators and oxygen, they are standing in for sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, who under normal circumstances would be able to visit, hold the hands of sick loved ones and offer a word of encouragement, COVID-19 patients must be isolated and their family members quarantined, the sick are alone, often elderly and terrified, Dr Gabriel Tomasoni, head of the intensive care unit at the public Civic Hospital in Brescia, said that these are patients who are starving for air, his team provides not only life saving help with machines but something else more human, they need closeness and tenderness, you can see it in their eyes. Across Europe, the pandemic is putting public healthcare systems under unprecedented strain bringing Italy's hospital network to its knees and stretching Spain's to breaking point,
In France, intensive care nurse Emmanuelle Dubourg DAvy feels that war has been declared and knows that the western French city's hospital of Anger will soon be inundated with critically ill Coronavirus patients, the teaching hospital has stockpiled blouses, face masks and disinfectant gels and rotas have been rewritten to increase working hours. so far, only three of 24 intensive care beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients but few among her colleagues doubt that a wave will hit, the nurse described her team experiences as a war and it looks like they are digging trenches, as infections spiral higher and fatalities surge, France is nest in line and Britain seems only a few days behind. In eastern France, around Strasbourg and Mulhouse, home to the country's second biggest outbreak after paris region, intensive care units are already overwhelmed, the army is setting up a field hospital and transferring patients to other cities, one of the nurses in the region said it felt like being in a never ending tunnel, with no spare beds for patients and a desperate shortage of masks and equipment, as she is not authorized to talk publicly, like other countries around the world, France has imposed an unprecedented lock down to get people off the streets and to slow the COVID-19 spread, hoping to win time for hospitals with limited intensive care facilities, which are re-tooling recovery or emergency rooms by installing ventilators sometimes stripped from operating theaters. Larger hospitals are scrambling to order new machines, all but essential operations are being canceled to free up personnel and beds, Anne Geffroy Wernet, an anesthetist intensive care doctor at Perpignan's main hospital said "We've reorganized everything to create something that will hold up but every two days, we are told we need 10 more beds here or there, we are now a region that is becoming endemic and we are trying to build intensive care unit beds in parts of the hospital where there weren't before under difficult circumstances" In each intensive care unit, there should be one doctor for every six patients, two nurses for every five and one caregiver for every four, those ratios will not be sustainable as the number of patients keep rising, so hospitals are recruiting staff from other departments such as pediatrics, as well as student medics to bolster intensive care wards, as many as 40% of front line health workers could fall sick, five hospital staff have already died in France. Jerome Larche, a trainee intensive care doctor at a private clinic in Montpellier, after an 18 hours shift said, we know we are going to hit a wall, we just hope that the airbag we are trying to prepare will allow us to limit the damage. French law says doctors can be on duty for up 24 hours consecutively, followed by 24 hours rest, nobody expects to keep them hours, but hospital staff wan't go home is sometimes it's a question of life or death and the consequence is that people start thinking they are heroes.
Despite social distancing rules, bin collectors have been crammed in front of their rubbish trucks as they continue to work to make sure neighborhood and city centers remain clean and rubbish free.
Providing hope as an anonymous doctor from Madrid asked Spaniards to write letters to the thousands of people who have been hospitalized with serious cases of Coronavirus, these patients are placed in isolation rooms where they are only seen by doctors who make their rounds once a day and for many the situation is deeply traumatic.
In Melbourne, Australia, a group of Sikh volunteers has started a free home delivery service aiming to deliver 1,000 home cooked meals to those self isolating, according to the Daily Mail.
Chef Jonny Burnett in Somerset England, is also cooking and delivering meals for isolated or vulnerable people during the COVID-19 crisis, he was offered space at the local pub to make the food.
Long serving cleaner in Spain's parliament Valentina Cepeda won praise on Twitter for her vigilant work in protecting the country's politicians during the crisis, she became famous on March 18 as she disinfected the podium and microphone every time the prime minister and MPs spoke during the the plenary session in which the country's lock down was debated.
With schools around the world now closed, parents are looking for alternative forms of education, Copenhagen based entrepreneur Neil Murray shared snap of a tattoo artist giving more than 1,600 children including his daughter an art lesson on Facebook Live.
Europeans can still buy food all over the continent, because cashiers show up to work every day, who obviously cannot work from home and have to continue commuting in locked down countries, they are also among those facing the greatest health risk as they are in contact with thousands of people.
Children across Italy are decking their neighborhoods with messages of optimism, rainbows with the words"Everything will be fine" along with drawings, placards and sheets hanging on balconies are spreading across Italy and including other countries to provide hope during the crisis.
Police on the streets of Algaida on the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca brought a smile to locals and then the world, as a Twitter clip of officers singing a traditional Mallorcan song, dancing and playing the guitar was beamed around the internet.
Cultural venues, from opera houses to concert halls, have been streaming performances online as entertainment, Ancienne Belgique in Brussels has been broadcasting past concerts and the MET in New York is sharing virtual performances.
A little known unit in the UK Department for Health NHSX has been tasked with transforming services across England's National Health Service to make them more digital, they have been working all hours to support the NHS through the crisis as the government tells people to get up to date advice online and more services are delivered digitally to relieve pressure on front line doctors.
There was a country wide sigh of relief when it was made clear that 30,000 French bakeries would be allowed to remain open, French people can no longer go to the movies or see their families for the traditional Sunday lunch, but thanks to the backers who will continue to wake up  at 4 AM despite the Coronavirus pandemic, they will continue to eat baguettes.
Those on the front line in the fight against COVID-19 epidemic, from health workers to public servants, are rightly getting plaudits for their brave and tireless work but the crisis has also revealed some unexpected heroes who are showing ingenuity and community spirit to tackle the health emergency engulfing the world.