4 patients at St. Elizabeths Hospital dead after contracting COVID-19: officials
Nurse at St. Elizabeths Hospital has tested positive for COVID-19
The husband of a nurse at St. Elizabeths Hospital in the District says his wife is in the ICU fighting after a COVID-19 diagnosis amid an outbreak there. He tells FOX 5 she didn’t have proper PPE and came into contact with an infected coworker.
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Officials said Monday that four patients at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast D.C. have died after contracting the coronavirus.
The patients who died were an 81-year-old woman, a 77-year-old man, a 59-year-old man and an 87-year-old man, according to officials.
Coronavirus by the numbers in DC, Maryland and Virginia
Meanwhile, amid the outbreak, Sekou Mitchell, whose wife is a nurse at the hospital, is in the intensive care unit with a coronavirus diagnosis.
Mitchell says his wife started experiencing symptoms at the end of March. He says her COVID-19 led to a heart attack over the weekend. He says she’s now in the ICU at Howard University Hospital.
Mitchell believes his wife, who he asked FOX 5 not to name, contracted to virus after she was exposed to a coworker who tested positive. He says she was not given access to personal protective equipment in the weeks preceding her becoming ill.
“It's been a nightmare to be honest with you because of the isolation. I hadn't seen my wife physically until she went away on the ambulance and the hardest thing for me to do is watch her go and not go with her,” said Mitchell.
Neither the mayor’s office nor the Department of Behavioral Health have responded to FOX 5’s questions about a lack of PPE in March.
The nurse’s union representing St. Elizabeths workers tells FOX 5 hospital staff now have appropriate PPE.
Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather