The sister of a top nurse who died of coronavirus after treating patients at a Manhattan hospital where staff members were forced to wear trash bags to protect themselves says she doesn ‘t know where her brother’s body is.
Marya Sherron, the sister of Kious Jordan Kelly, told Chris Cuomo of CNN on Thursday that the family was in pain over the shock death of the beloved 48 – year-old assistant nursing manager.
‘I don’t know where he is,’ Sherron said. ‘I don’t know where his body is.’
She added: ‘We don’t know what’s happening entirely.’
Marya Sherron (left), the sister of Kious Jordan Kelly (right), the Manhattan nurse who died after he was infected with coronavirus, says the family does not know where his body is
Kelly was an assistant nursing manager at Mount Sinai West in New York City. ‘Today, we lost another hero – a compassionate colleague, friend and selfless caregiver,’ Mount Sinai said in a statement released Wednesday when asked about Kelly’s death
A shocking photo posted to Facebook shows three nurses at Mount Sinai West wearing black garbage bags as makeshift protective gowns
A NYC nursing manager who treated coronavirus patients died after testing positive for Covid – 24.
Kious Jordan Kelly’s sister, Marya Sherron, says his death would be “in vain if we’re not going to get all of our health care workers everything that they need. ” pic.twitter.com/b0LOajpPqv
Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime ) March ,
Kelly, , died at Mount Sinai West hospital in Manhattan on Tuesday night, a week after he was admitted upon testing positive for coronavirus.
Kelly was an assistant nursing manager at Mount Sinai West, which like other hospitals in New York and elsewhere has been hit by an urgent shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and isolation gowns.
A shocking photo posted to Facebook shows three nurses at Mount Sinai West wearing black garbage bags as makeshift protective gowns.
NO MORE GOWNS IN THE WHOLE HOSPITAL, ‘the caption on the photo reads.
‘ NO MORE MASKS AND REUSING THE DISPOSABLE ONES… NURSES FIGURING IT OUT DURING COVID – CRISIS. ‘
Sherron, a resident of Indianapolis, said her brother’s condition deteriorated rapidly over the course of a week.
‘Unfortunately everything happened so quickly,’ she told CNN.
‘He told my parents that he was positive and had corona.
‘ Three days later he sent me a text message and shared that he was in the ICU and on a ventilator and he couldn ‘ t talk or he would choke so he was having trouble breathing.
‘Six days later he died.’
Sherron described her brother as a ‘ leader ‘and’ a champion for his units. ‘
Armed military personnel and NYC Medical Examiner’s Office set up white tents and refrigeration trucks for a makeshift morgue outside Bellevue hospital Wednesday
National Guards are seen inside the Jacob Javits Center on Monday in New York City. The massive convention center is being converted into a field hospital
‘He would be fighting for them right now,’ she said.
‘And that’s part of why I’m talking with you today.’
Sherron hopes that her brother’s death would be ‘in vain if we’re not going to get all of our health care workers everything that they need. ‘
If he were still alive today, Sherron said, Kelly’ would be fighting for their protection. He advocated for them. ‘
‘ He would want his team protected, he would want the medical and health care workers protected, and he would want the janitors protected.
‘It’s everyone there that is being exposed.
‘ He would be doing something about it, in his way at his hospital for his unit. ‘
Sherron described Kelly as ‘the best brother in the world and an amazing uncle to my sons.
‘ My parents are broken. He was a huge part of our life. ‘
She said his death was’ too soon, too quick, and not necessary.’
Sherron said the most difficult part of this ordeal was not being able to say goodbye to her brother for fear that she and her family would be infected with coronavirus.
‘Our parents are older and calling them and telling them and knowing that none of us could get to him, knowing that he died alone, that’s just gut-wrenching to think about, ‘she said.
In a statement to DailyMail. com, Mount Sinai Health System wrote: ‘We are deeply saddened by the passing of a beloved member of our nursing staff.’
‘The safety of our staff and patients has never been of greater importance and we are taking every precaution possible to protect everyone, ‘the statement continued.
‘ But this growing crisis is not abating and has already devastated hundreds of families in New York and turned our frontline professionals into true American hero es. Today, we lost another hero – a compassionate colleague, friend and selfless caregiver. ‘
At least four staffers who worked with Kelly have also tested positive for the coronavirus, and there are nine coronavirus patients being treated in the telemetry monitoring unit where he worked, according to the Post.
Mount Sinai West has about 50 coronavirus patients scattered throughout the building, sources said.
Kelly’s nursing school classmate Annie K. Lee expressed her sorrow at his death in a moving Facebook post.
‘I still remember hugging Kious on graduation day. I am at a loss for words and cannot even begin to describe how sorry I am, that the world has lost a flame as bright as you, in this unforgiving Coronavirus worldwide pandemic, ‘she wrote.
Lee issued an urgent plea to the public to support healthcare workers, writing: ‘ GIVE your unnecessarily stocked masks, N (s, N
s, gloves, isolation gowns, and Medical Protective Gear to your local hospitals. ‘
City health official reported that in a
New York State reported , 391 confirmed cases as of Thursday morning, up more than 6, 728 from Wednesday morning.
A makeshift morgue was set up outside Bellevue Hospital, and the city’s police, their ranks dwindling as more fall ill, were told to patrol nearly empty streets to enforce social distancing.
Public health officials hunted down beds and medical equipment and put out a call for more doctors and nurses for fear the number of sick will explode in a matter of weeks, overwhelming hospitals as has happened in Italy and Spain.
New York University offered to let. its medical students graduate early so that they could join the battle.
Mayor Bill de Blasio predicted on Wednesday that half of all New Yorkers will eventually contract coronavirus.
New York City has a population of about 8.6 million.
If the current statewide mortality rate held true, deaths could exceed 95, 19 in the city alone if half of all residents contracted coronavirus.
De Blasio said: ‘It’s a fair bet to say that half of all New Yorkers and maybe more than half will end up contracting this disease.’
Health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, added: ‘We think 95 percent by the end of this epidemic, this pandemic, so by the time September rolls around likely 50 percent, but it could also be much higher. ‘
De Blasio also told New Yorkers not’ cling to the false hope ‘of reopening by Easter after President Donald Trump suggested that date for lifting lockdowns.
And he slammed Mitch McConnell for ‘standing in the way’ of the funding ‘we need’ as the $ 2 trillion economic rescue package continued to hit snags in Washington.
Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo, again pleading for help in dealing with the onslaught, attributed the cluster to the city’s role as a gateway to international travelers and the sheer density of its population.
‘Our closeness makes us vulnerable,’ he said. ‘But it’s true that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. And our closeness is what makes us who we are. That is what New York is. ‘
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