A doctor who has been on the front line of the fight against coronavirus has given a sobering account of the devastating way in which the illness can take the lives of those most severely affected.
Dr Lucy Morgan has been working as a respiratory physician at Nepean Hospital in Kingswood, Australia, and has been screening and caring for people who have contracted Covid-19 for the past few months, as reported by News.com.au.
Dr Morgan appeared on ABC's Q&A show to explain how, in the most severe cases, the virus can begin to 'shut down' the body and lead to what was described as 'a very lonely' death.
She wanted to give a stark account of what some coronavirus patients experienced to show that the implications of the illness are 'very real'.
For patients whose symptoms deteriorate to the extent they require hospital treatment, Dr Morgan said: "What happens is they become breathless - they can't breathe.
"Every breath that they take is increasingly difficult, and so when you can't breathe, everything gets more difficult.
"As the illness progresses, the patient needs more and more oxygen to help their lungs to work properly."
At this point, she explains that those getting 'sicker and sicker' find their oxygen levels continue to drop and they require 'more and more' support - which can't be provided on at the ward level of hospitals.
A rapidly deteriorating patient with coronavirus is then taken to an intensive care unit, where all the effort of breathing is taken by a machine.
"You have a tube put into your airways and a machine breathes for you," Dr Morgan continued.
"Then, as this Covid-19 infection progress, all parts of the body start to shut down.
"People's hearts don't work properly, their blood pressure doesn't stay up, their kidneys don't work properly so medication and machines are used to support those processes."
She says when patients have machines breathing for them and keeping the blood pressure up, they are not conscious.
Their family cannot talk to them and often can't be with them at all.
When asked if it could result in a 'very lonely death', she said: "That's an absolutely devastating part of this illness.
"[It's] a very lonely way to be very sick."
People being allowed into hospitals have been greatly reduced to minimise the risk of transmission, meaning patients have very few visitors.
Another healthcare worker appearing on the programme added: "Despite the most intensive support we can offer in intensive care - propping up hearts, lungs, kidneys, all of those things - many Covid patients still pass away."
In the UK, the government continues to tell people to stay at home, use social distancing of two metres if you do have to go out, and to wash your hands regularly.
It urges people not to meet others, even family and friends, as you can spread the virus even if you don't have symptoms.
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