A year into pandemic, Mexico's healthcare workers fight fatigue and stress

Record ID: 1602379

  • Title: A year into pandemic, Mexico's healthcare workers fight fatigue and stress
  • Date: 20th February 2021
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (FEBRUARY 15, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN DOCTOR, MIREL ARANG, SAYING: "This pandemic is obviously going to affect us emotionally, physically, mentally. I think it is necessary to take a break, not to go to work, and to receive professional counseling either from a psychiatrist or a psychologist. We have seen people die without being a
  • Embargoed: 6th March 2021 03:44
  • Keywords: COVID-19 Health workers coronavirus health pandemic
  • Location: MEXICO CITY; NEZAHUALCOYOTL, ECATEPEC, MEXICO STATE, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY; NEZAHUALCOYOTL, ECATEPEC, MEXICO STATE, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Health/Medicine,South America / Central America
  • Reuters ID: LVA001E0G5LJB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:When the coronavirus pandemic reached Mexico a year ago, it kicked off a marathon of strenuous shifts for thousands of healthcare and funeral home workers in a country that has registered more than 2 million infections and 178,000 deaths.
    With the pandemic still largely uncontrolled, professionals in the thick of the emergency are increasingly grappling with the fatigue, stress and frustration of their daily jobs.
    This pandemic is obviously going to affect us emotionally, physically, mentally," said the emergency doctor Mirel Arang, 51, who recommends her colleagues to receive "professional counseling either from a psychiatrist or a psychologist."
    At least 3,000 healthcare workers in Mexico have died from the virus, one of the worst death tolls for the medical profession worldwide.
    While the pandemic has exacerbated anxiety and depression for many, medical workers have been especially hard hit, according to a recent report on suicide prevention from the Pan American Health Organization.
    At funeral homes and cemeteries, employees are also contending with a seemingly endless flow of lost lives. According to a study from the University of Washington, Mexico's overall death toll from the pandemic could exceed 200,000 in June.
    Last month, demand for services doubled amid a peak in infections, and the staff was overwhelmed.
    Fatigue particularly dragged on industry workers when the daily death rate spiked late last year, said Roberto Garcia, vice president of the National Association of Funeral Directors. With about 40% of the sector having contracted the virus, fear of infection also runs high, he said.
    Grupo Gayosso, Mexico's largest provider of funeral services, said it implemented a psychological support program and increased its operational staff by 35% to help alleviate the burden on workers.
    For Carlos Cruz, who cremates the bodies of COVID-19 victims at a public cemetery, taking care of house repairs helps clear his mind after especially taxing days, when dozens of cadavers can accumulate at once.
    (Production: Carlos Carrillo, Alberto Fajardo, Josue Fernandez, Rodolfo Pena Roja, Liamar Ramos)
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