COVID Patient Holds Fake ‘Hand’ In Isolation Ward, Reminding Us This Isn’t Over

While the end of the pandemic may be in sight for some of us, there are still countries and individuals struggling with COVID-19, and it’s just as heartbreaking as ever.

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One of the most devastating things about COVID has been that because it is so contagious, hospitalized patients have often been isolated from their loved ones in their final days. It may not have a high mortality rate, but those that die, die alone.

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An image shared on Twitter has snapped that reality back into our minds.

“‘The hand of God,’” @nmannathukkaren describes the image. “Nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian Covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact.”

‘The hand of God’ — nurses trying to comfort isolated patients in a Brazilian Covid isolation ward. Two disposable gloves tied, full of hot water, simulating impossible human contact. Salute to the front liners and a stark reminder of the grim situation our world is [email protected] pic.twitter.com/eldzkT4JHa

— Nissim Mannathukkaren നിസ്സിം മണ്ണത്തൂക്കാരൻ (@nmannathukkaren) April 8, 2021

Where COVID cases in the United States are largely going down, Brazil’s cases are surging, due largely to President Jair Bolsonaro’s dismal leadership during the pandemic.

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“Even in the pandemic’s darkest hour, the far-right leader continues to ignore calls from health officials for a national lockdown, attacks the use of masks, ignores science, peddles unproven remedies, and told Brazilians this week ‘there’s no use crying over spilled milk,’ referring to Brazil’s soaring death toll,” writes Al Jazeera’s Charlotte Peet.

With things only looking to get worse if nothing changes, the “hand of God” image shared online is serving as a warning to countries in recovery that while things are looking up for us now, if we aren’t careful, we could be right back to the constant tragedy COVID wrought upon the whole world over the past year.

As I receive my vaccine, I feel a mix of relief and empathy for the countries that are still suffering without a vaccine plan in sight. Let us not forget those who believe the science but don’t have the luxury of “deciding” whether to vaccinate or not. #DemVoice1 https://t.co/JlNQZOTqEi

— Shannon (@THEshannonmassa) April 10, 2021

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We cannot leave people to die away from loved ones. We have to do better

— Jay #Genderfree (@celticgoddess51) April 8, 2021

Of all the things I have seen this year, all the loss, all the suffering, all the agony, why ….

why does this reduce me to tears.

I just ….

Dammit. https://t.co/n5bONToWfK

— Darren Markland (@drdagly) April 9, 2021

My biggest trauma from this whole pandemic is one of my dying patients only feeling my gloved hand holding theirs as they passed. It wrecked me for months.

— A Nonny Nurse, BSN, RN (@IranianYogurt) April 9, 2021

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According to the Daily Dot, the picture was taken in late March at the Vila Prado Emergency Care Unit in São Carlos, Brazil, and the “hand of God” was fashioned by nurse technician Semei Araújo Cunha.

“We decided to do it as a form of affection, cuddling, humanization, as if someone was taking her hand, and also to soften the extremities that were very cold,” Cunha told G1 São Carlos and Araraquara. “You have to be an empathetic human.”

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*First Published: April 11, 2021, 9:45 am