ICN report: Over 3000 nurses died of COVID-19 in 60 countries since March 2020

At least 3000 nurses have died after contracting the novel coronavirus since the pandemic hit, and more than 10 percent of total case fatality globally comprises healthcare workers, a report by the International Council of Nurses (ICN) revealed Thursday. Since March 11, 2020 when World health organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, millions of nurses have been reeling under the “mass trauma” worse than WWII, and its lasting consequences. This has also pushed many to quit their profession. 

Published on March 10, the new analysis by the ICN found that the swamped hospitals, staffing shortage and onslaught of COVID-19 patients since the last year has stressed and worn out the healthcare workers. As many as 400 incidents of pandemic related violence and threat against the healthcare worker was recorded, as the global health crisis pushed the healthcare systems to the brink of its maximum capacity. This, among many other reasons, resulted in a mounting death toll among the hospital nurses across 60 countries. 

At least 1,172 COVID-19 related incidents against the nurses were registered during their response  to the pandemic. This included the arson of COVID-19 testing facilities, the targeting of health workers on their way home from clinics, and violent responses to mask requirements, the ICN report found. “COVID-19-related attacks reveal a disturbing new dimension of violence against health care, which has in the past related primarily to attacks on health care amid armed conflict or routine health services provision,” the report further added. 

'Mass traumatisation' during COVID-19

In a statement, the ICN chief executive Howard Catton said, “Nurses have gone through 'mass traumatisation' during the pandemic, as hospitals were pushed to physical and mental exhaustion.” Furthermore, he added,“They reach a point where they’ve given everything they can.” Catton stated that the global workforce of the nurses  at the hospitals during the pandemic drastically shrank to just 6 million from the previous 27 million, this included  at least 4 million that were already looking for retirement by 2030. 

“"The world has experienced mass trauma," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a virtual press conference. “And now, even with this COVID pandemic, with bigger magnitude, more lives have been affected, almost the whole world is affected," he added. Meanwhile, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Programme, Michael Ryan stressed, “The mental health and psychosocial support to individuals and communities must be central to all recovery plans and must be costed into those plans.” 

(Image Credit: AP)