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'It's like a f*cking horror movie:' Healthcare workers vent about COVID-19 conspiracy theorists

Doctors and nurses tweet about how frustrating it is to treat a surge of dying COVID-19 patients as conspiracy theories mount online.

Siobhan Neela-Stock

on November 20, 2020

'It's like a f*cking horror movie:' Healthcare workers vent about COVID-19 conspiracy theorists

Just like coronavirus, COVID-19 deniers are probably going to be around for the long haul.

Misinformation about COVID-19 literally kills. As the pandemic roars ahead, conspiracy theories thrive online. A handful of so-called "COVID truthers" even tried to enter a busy Utah hospital while others clogged phone lines because they didn't believe legitimate reports of an overfull intensive care unit.

Healthcare workers are exhausted by the bogus claims. Recently, a flurry of doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other healthcare workers have shared heartbreaking posts on social media to illustrate the devastation wrought by COVID-19 as they stare down endless days of over-packed hospitals.

Their online pleas come as the COVID-19 death toll hit a six-month high on Tuesday and the U.S. reached the bleak milestone of over 250,000 Americans dead from the virus since the start of the pandemic. Some states are responding to another coronavirus wave by reinstating restrictions designed to save lives, while others are easing rules or implementing mask mandates for the first time.

Meanwhile, many healthcare workers are past their breaking points or have quit.

Kari Jerge, a critical care surgeon, is currently working part-time in the COVID-19 intensive care unit at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix.

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Jerge says the patients she's cared for in the last week or two are the sickest patients she's encountered in her eight years of practicing medicine.

"...they get so sick so fast, despite all the machines and all the medicines you put them on, a lot of them are slipping through our fingers," says Jerge.

The burnout worries Jerge, who fears many doctors and nurses will leave the medical field when the pandemic is over.

"What I'm afraid of, is at the end of this, there's going to be a whole bunch of nurses and doctors who have emptied their cups and have nothing left to pour," she says. "As long as I can hold onto the warmth, empathy, and compassion that I give to my patients, as long I don't shut down, I'll still be able to be in medicine at the end of this."

If you're tired of arguing with friends, family, and strangers on the internet about the consequences of COVID-19, share the tweets below with them. It may not change their minds but, hopefully it will provide some perspective and evoke at least a smidgeon of empathy. The harsh realities inside America's healthcare centers are only mounting.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Jerge isn't hopeful for a quick end to the onslaught of critically-ill patients with COVID-19.

"This feels like quicksand, we're about to get hit with a tidal [wave] that's even worse and it's already so bad," she says.

Topics Health COVID-19

Siobhan Neela-Stock

Siobhan was the Social Good reporter at Mashable, writing about everything from mental health to race to the climate crisis. Before diving into the world of journalism, she worked in global health — most notably, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique. Find her at @siobhanneela.