截至目前，全球累计确诊新冠肺炎病例已超过176万人，累计死亡超过10万人。美国和欧洲的情况仍不容乐观，两周前美国累计是10万人感染，一周前是30万，现在已经超过了50万，死亡人数也超过了2万人，仅纽约州的死亡人数就达到了8627人，占了全国总死亡人数的小一半。美国一共50个州，50个州都已经进入了灾难状态，这也是历史首次。
疫情最严重的纽约州，现在比我们当时的湖北武汉情况要糟糕的多，虽然也有很多其他地方的医务人员过去支援，但是医院的状况还是很惨烈。以下是一位去支援纽约医院的护士发的帖子，我大致翻译了一下，可能会有个别错误，但看完真的很让人难过。
I lost a patient today. He was not the first, and unfortunately he's definitely not the last. But he was different. I've been an ER nurse my entire career, but in New York I find myself in the ICU. At this point there's not really anywhere in the hospital that isn't ICU, all covid 19 positive. They are desperate for nurses who can titrate critical medication drips and troubleshoot ventiltors.
我今天失去了一个病人。他不是第一个，不幸地是，他也绝不是最后一个。但他不一样。我从刚一工作就是一名急诊室护士，但现在在纽约，我感觉自己在ICU（重症监护室）。在这里的医院，没有不是ICU的地方，都是新冠病毒阳性，病人们迫切需要药和好的呼吸机。
I've taken care of this man the last three nights, a first for me. In the ER I rarely keep patients for even one 12 hour shift. His entire two week stay had been rough for him, but last night was the worst. I spent the first six hours of my shift not really leaving his room. By the end, with so many medications infusing at their maximum, I was begging the doctor to call his family and let them know. "He's not going to make it", I said. The poor doctors are so busy running from code to code, being pulled by emergent patients every minute. All I could think of was the voice of my mom in my head, crying as I got on the plane to leave for this place: "Those people are alone, you take good care of them". I was the only person in that room for three nights in a row, fighting as hard as I could to keep this man alive. The doctor was able to reach the family, update them. It was decided that when his heart inevitably stopped we wouldn't try to restart it. There just wasn't anything else left to do.
在过去的三个晚上，我一直在照顾这个人，这对我来说是第一次。在急诊室，很少12小时才轮一次班。这个病人进来了两周情况不好，但昨晚是最糟糕的。我轮班的前六个小时都没有离开他的房间。到最后，输注的药物已经达到了最大限度，我请医生打电话给他的家人，让他们知道，“他活不下去了。”可怜的医生们一直在忙，从一个病人到另一个病人，每分钟都有急诊病人。我满脑子都是妈妈的声音，当我登上飞机要到这里支援时，她哭着说：“那些人都是孤零零的，你好好照顾他们。”我是那个房间里唯一连续呆了三个晚上的人，我尽了最大努力想让这个人活着。医生联系到了他的家人，他们决定，当他的心脏停止跳动的话，不再试图抢救了。
Eventually, he gave up. It was just him and me and his intubated roommate in the next bed. The wooden door to the room is shut, containing infection and cutting us off from the rest of the world. I called the doctor to come and mark the time of death. I wished so much that I could let his family know that while they might not have been with him, I was.
最终，他离开了。只有他、我和插着管的同室病人。防止了感染，门是关上的，就像切断了他与世界的联系。我叫来医生记录他的死亡时间。我多么希望我能让他的家人知道，虽然他们没有和他在一起，但我和他在一起。
I shut the pumps down (so horribly many of them), disconnected the vent, took him off the monitor. We didn't extubate him, too much of a risk to staff. Respiratory took the vent as soon as I called. It's just a portable one, but it's life to someone downstairs. The CNA helped me to wash him and place him in a body bag, a luxury afforded only to those who make it out of the ER. Down there the bodies pile up on stretchers, alone, while the patients on vents wait for the golden spot my gentleman just vacated. We'll talk about the ER another time. My patient was obviously healthy in his life. I look at his picture in his chart, the kind they take from a camera over a computer when you aren't really prepared. A head shot, slightly awkward. I see someone's Grandpa, someone's Dad, someones Husband. They aren't here with him. My heart breaks for them.
我关掉了呼吸机，取下他身上的监控仪器。我们没有给他拔管，因为这会给大家带来了太大的风险。这个呼吸机只是个便携式的，但对病人来说就是生命。护理人员帮我给他擦洗后，把他放进了尸体袋里，这是从急诊室离开的人唯一能享受到的奢侈。尸体堆积在担架上，其他的的病人则在等待这里刚刚腾出的宝贵位置。我下次再谈急诊室的事。我的病人在他的一生中显然是健康的，我在他的病历上看着他的照片，用电脑拍摄的大头像，有点难看。他可能是某人的爷爷、某人的爸爸、某人的丈夫，亲人们都不在他的身边，我真为他心碎。
I fold his cute old man sweater and place it in a bag with his loafers, his belongings. I ask where to put this things. A coworker opens the door to a locked room; labeled bags are piled to the ceiling. My heart drops. It's all belongings of deceased parents, waiting for a family member to someday claim them. A few nights ago they had 17 deaths in a shift. The entire unit is only 17 beds.
我把这位可爱的老人的毛衣叠起来，把属于他东西放在一个袋子里。我问这些东西放在哪里？一位同事打开一间锁着的房门，把标签贴在袋子上。我的心都要碎了，这里都是已故病人的东西，等着有一天家人来认领。几天前的晚上，他们一班有17人死亡，而他们一班那个单元就17张病床。
These patients are so fragile. It's such a delicate balance of breathing, of blood pressure, of organ function. The slightest movement or change sends them into hours long death spirals. The codes are so frequent those not directly involved barely even register them. The patients are all the same, every one. Regardless of age, health status, wealth, family, or power the diagnosis is the same, the disease process is the same, and the aloneness is the same. Our floor has one guy that made it to extubation. He's 30 years old. I view him as our mascot, our ray of hope that not everyone here is just waiting to die. I know that most people survive just fine, but that's not what it feels like in this place. Most of the hospital staff is out sick. We, the disaster staff, keep our n95 masks glued to our faces. We all think we are invincible, but I find myself eyeing up my coworkers, wondering who the weak ones are, knowing deep down that not all of us will make it out of here alive.
病人们很脆弱，需要呼吸、血压和器官各功能的微妙平衡，极轻微的移动或变化都可能会使他们陷入长达数小时与死亡的周旋。病人太多了，有些都来不及登记。每个病人都是一样的，无论年龄、健康状况、财富、家庭或权力，诊断是一样的，病程是一样的，孤独感也是一样的。我们楼层有一个人成功拔管了，他30岁，我视他为我们的吉祥物，我们的希望之光，这里的每个人不是都在等死。我知道大多数人幸存了下来，但在医院里不是这个的感觉。医院里的很多工作人员都病了，这是灾难性的，我们把N95口罩紧紧贴在脸上。我们都认为我们是不可战胜的，我看着我的同事，没有人软弱，但在内心深处，我知道不是所有人都能活着离开这里。
A bus takes us back to the hotel the disaster staff resides in, through deserted Manhatten. We are a few blocks from Central Park. We pass radio city music hall, nbc studios, times square. There is no traffic. The sidewalks are empty. My room is on the 12th floor. At 7pm you can hear people cheering and banging on and pans for the healthcare workers at change of shift. This city is breaking and stealing my heart simultaneously. I didn't know what I was getting into coming here, but it's turning out to be quite a lot.
一辆巴士把我们从医院带到居住的酒店，穿过荒无人烟的曼哈顿。我们距离中央公园只有几个街区，我们经过纽约传奇音乐厅、NBC演播室、时代广场，这里没有车辆，人行道上也是空的。我的房间在12楼。晚上7点，可以听到人们在医护人员轮班时为他们欢呼、敲打平底锅。这座城市让我心碎，也偷走了我的心。我不知道我来到这里会遇到什么，但事实证明遇到了相当多的事情。
这位母亲用床单包裹着ICU工作的孩子，来拥抱他，看着也真是让人心酸。虽然美国的一些政客的嘴脸实在令人作呕，对待疫情的方式也非常不得当，但人民是无辜的，大多数人也都是善良的，也有很多勇敢的逆行者。美国医院如今也非常缺口罩和医护用品，很多指定的新冠病毒收治医院，一个N95口罩医护人员要戴10个班次，平均每人每两周才能换一个，防护面罩也只能自己做。
在美国联邦政府与各州间甩锅的时候，民间发起了越来越多的捐助活动，当地的华人也在努力尽自己的一份量。他们真的很有担当，国内疫情时，买了口罩捐往国内，解决了国内很多医院的燃眉之急。现在又到处找口罩捐给当地医院、社区、老人院、警察局和有需要的地方。在3月初美国政府在疫情防控还是一脸懵逼的时候，华人社区就已经开始行动为奋斗在前线的医护人员提供帮助了。我的一位朋友在华盛顿州的西雅图，他们自发组织了口罩捐助群，在当地也受到了很多好评和感谢。
现在很多人在看欧美的笑话，希望他们感染的人越多越好，但病毒是全世界的灾难，全球经济一体化的今天没有一个国家能独善其身，由疫情影响的消费大国的经济衰退、企业倒闭、大批人员失业、消费能力的丧失，会导致全球经济衰退，进而导致更多企业倒闭、人员失业，经济继续衰退的恶性循环。尤其对不发达国家会是更大的打击，他们原本就医疗能力不足，死亡率会更高，发达国家这时候也没有能力帮助他们，再加上原本就不发达的经济再次衰落，老百姓真的会民不聊生。
所以如今大家一起对抗病毒才是唯一的出路。全球华人这次的表现真的很棒，勇敢、迅速而有社会责任感，全世界的外国人也越来越意识到我们这个东方民族庞大躯体中的力量和优秀品质，纷纷竖起大拇指。华人，世界因你们而美丽！