An NHS nurse on the front line of the UK's coronavirus battle has written an impassioned plea to Britons after missing Mother's Day.
Mum Katey Murphy should have been enjoying the day with her 10-year-old daughter, but instead she was in the Covid-19 "war zone" for more than 12 hours.
Writing after a gruelling shift, she told how she is scared she will become infected and bring the virus home to her family, echoing the fears of fellow NHS workers and key workers leading the battle against the potentially deadly illness.
Critical care nurse Ms Murphy, from Sunderland, is urging everyone to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus, and hit out at those ignoring social distancing or self-isolation advice, warning: "Please don't think you are untouchable."
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Ms Murphy, who works at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, wrote on Facebook: "Yesterday morning I left my house at 06:30am to travel to the RVI Intensive Care Unit where I work as a Critical Care Nurse and I didn’t walk back through my front door till after 9pm.
"I never got to see or speak to my mam on Mother’s Day, I didn’t get to sit and watch movies all day with my beautiful 10 year old daughter or play games and paint pictures.
"Instead I was at work .... somewhere I never thought I’d be ... the frontline of an ever impending war zone."
She expressed the fears of many NHS workers who come into contact with coronavirus patients and then return home to their loved ones.
She wrote: "I don’t want to be there, I’m scared, what if I bring this illness home to my beautiful, beautiful little girl or to my husband, the man who has loved and supported me for the last 17 years.
"What if I am one of the already growing young fit healthcare workers who ends up on a ventilator fighting for my own life.
"Again I don’t want to be there but... I WILL BE THERE, looking after the sickest of the sick people fighting for their lives against this awful disease."
She added: "Imagine feeling all of this then you finally get home 15 hours after you left that morning to sit down, pick up your phone, start scrolling Facebook and all you see are images, after images, after images of crowds of people gathered in parks and beaches, or complaining that sitting at home watching Netflix is just far to boring.
"You turn on the TV to see Boris is having to actually threaten to enforce a military lock down situation as people can literally not just sit down and stay in their homes for more than a day.
"It’s absolutely heartbreaking for people like me who are unable to stay at home and who will continue to go to work and care for these people who could have actually stayed at home yesterday but didn’t ... so contracted the virus, spread it to others and made sure this horrible pandemic will be longer and harder than it ever had to be.
"Please don’t think you’re special, please don’t think you are untouchable....... PLEASE JUST #STAYTHOME."
Ms Murphy's post has gone viral, with thousands of shares and reactions.
Readers hailed her and her NHS colleagues, who are bracing for a rapid increase in cases over the coming weeks and telling the Government to make sure they have all the equipment and supplies they need to treat patients and protect themselves.
One Facebook user replied: "Thank you for helping those in need, your daughter has a heroine as a mum."
Another person wrote: "Thank you for your dedication to your profession, you all are true angels. I and millions of others are so grateful for all you and everyone who cares for others."
And a third added: "Words cannot express the gratitude of the overwhelming majority of the public.
"Unfortunately there will allways be a sector of the community that think only of themselves.
"Please do not allow the stupid selfish acts of these people to in anyway undermine your sense of value and importance you place on your work.
"You are all greatly admired and respected."
People who are ignoring social distancing advice to stay two metres apart are "very selfish", the Health Secretary has said as he indicated further measures could be brought in to tackle Covid-19.
In a sign that the UK could be moving towards greater lockdown, Matt Hancock said the Government was willing to take "more action" if needed to stop coronavirus from spreading.
Over the weekend, photos emerged showing crowds of people visiting open spaces across many parts of the UK.
The Government has said it is safe to exercise as long as people keep at least two metres away from other people.
