United States: "When Dying Without Dignity"

Another concern hits many in the United States.

We are talking about the Covid 19 and the risk of not being well protected when facing eventual pain and sickness.

El Nuevo Herald dedicated an article to this topic on Wednesday, an article written by journalist Liz Szabo Kaiser.

Among other things, she quoted the example of Jill Hoftede, whose 90-year-old mother suffers from Alzheimer's.

She says that for her the news on the coronavirus "are increasingly frightening."

She knows of the shortage of mechanical ventilators and intensive care beds, but she is even more afraid of the increase in patients with Covid 19.

The motive? May her mother contract the virus and she be forced to face the relief of pain and suffering.

"I don't want her to die from the virus," said Hofstede, 57, who lives with her five children in Brush Prairie, Washington.

The most relevant thing she said: "I don't want her to suffer."

Later on she told reporters: "There should be a right to die with dignity, even in the midst of a pandemic."

The Herald reporter commented that specialists are concerned about the lack of professionals devoted to the physical and spiritual pain caused by a serious illness.

"The shortage is already real, and it will only worsen with the increased demand due to current events," explained Dr. Arif Kamal, a palliative care researcher at the North Carolina-based Duke University School of Medicine.

Even before the coronavirus appeared, palliative care staff were unable to meet the country's needs.

However, Dr. Diane Meier, director for the Center to Advance Palliative Care said, "Palliative care is vital for those who are close to death."

In addition, the Herald journalist repeated another very dramatic approach, stated by the Imperial College London:

"More than a million North Americans could die from Covid-19."