Vulnerable people in england and wales whove been shielding in their homes since before lockdown have been told they can venture out for the first time from tomorrow thats four weeks earlier than expected. Those with Underlying Health conditions, who are more at risk, will be able to go out with members of their household or meet one person outside their household. Heres our Health Editor hugh pym. Charlie has an immune deficiency and asthma. Shes been shielded since march, not leaving her house and garden, but from tomorrow, she will be able to, taking the dog for a walk and meeting a member of the family. Im ecstatic. Ive already rung my mum and she is doing to come for a dog walk tomorrow morning at 10 30am so that we can actually have a proper conversation in the air and it will feel like we are a lot closer again so, even though we cant embrace yet, it will be much better than it has been. Those most at risk from the virus because of their Health Conditions are shielding. Around 2. 5 million in the uk, including transplant recipients, some cancer patients, those with severe respiratory conditions and those who are immunosuppressed. Since march, theyve been told not to leave will be allowed to go outside once a day and meet one of the person from outside once a day and meet one other person from outside their household, remaining two metres apart. The rules havent changed in scotland and northern ireland. But some are worried. This man has kidney dialysis at home in blackburn four days a week and is waiting for a transponder. And is waiting for a transplant. He stayed indoors for ten weeks with his mother and brother. He says he will not be going out tomorrow. Id rather be safe than sorry and yes, the messaging generally from the government over the past couple of months has been very muddled and unclear, and it doesnt fill me with much confidence, and i am probably more afraid now that i was at the beginning. One Charity Leader gave a cautious welcome but said the change had come with no notice. The way this announcement has been made and the fact been made and the fact that we havent seen any of the evidence for this group that says it is now safe, its created quite a lot of anxiety among people, and people are hearing Different Things now in the government announcement as they are hearing from their own clinical team. Ministers say its up to people in the shielded groups whether they go outside or not and they should only do what they are comfortable with. There will be a review of the policy in mid june. Hugh pym, bbc news. Now on bbc news, our world. New york has been the epicentre of americas coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 30,000 deaths in the state so far. As the virus took hold in march, doctors and nurses from across the us answered new yorks call for help. This is the story of four of those on the frontline told through their video diaries as the crisis unfolds. It is about bravery, sacrifice and sadness, life in the eye of the storm. A warning that this programme contains scenes some viewers may find distressing. New york city has been the global epicentre of coronavirus. The president said this is a war, i agree with that. This is a war. More people have died here than in any other city in the world. Theres been times when i have walked out of the er and said to myself, what in the world has just happened . Things got so bad that the governor of new york pleaded for help. I am asking Healthcare Professionals across the country, please, come help us in new york now. This is the story of some of the nurses who answered that call and the besieged new york doctors fighting to stop their city being overwhelmed. I saw the row of ambulance stretchers waiting to be triaged and i thought to myself, were losing, were losing. Ellie, come here im Christina Ferguson and in a week, i will be heading out to new york to help in the bronx at one of their hospitals. Im travelling with a co worker of mine, and having the skills, Critical Care for me, er for him, we decided, lets do it. This is the first time that ive ever gone on an assignment such as this. This is a little bit different going into the epicentre of a pandemic. This is one of my suitcases. I was there for september 11, so naturally it feels like i should go back, you know, to be a part of this and help out in any way i can. I have seven bags, there is the insta pot. I was thinking about some of the things i was packing up. As a nurse, this is what we went to school for. This is what we do. Going to new york for this whole covid crisis is basically like that, its like throwing yourself into the situation. You dont think twice about it, youre just going. Here we are at our favourite lake. My daughter and i do a lot of outdoorsy stuff, and thats something were really going to miss. But i like to take these moments to think about the things i can come back to. I do have my trunk packed, all the medical supplies that were donated. Well get ready to hit the road. So the day has come, its a 17. 5 hour drive, and reality is sinking in and were on our way. I have my Sleeping Beauty and her best friend. I had some conflict about bringing her along but i dont want fear to steer me away from what i want to do, and we have had many conversations. And me and her have had many conversations. Well just take it one day at a time. Some gorgeous views, its kind of serene all at the same time knowing that once we get out of these mountains and into the city, theres no telling whats going to be waiting there for us. Theres always some fear going into such a traumatic environment, but the moment that i walk into the er, its go time. On march the 13th, new york city recorded its first covid i9 death. Im not sure we could have fathomed how big this wouldve been. Within a month, more had died from the virus than in 9 11. I never really ever imagined in my life that i would see the density of human suffering. We will never think about healthcare in the same way. New yorker dr Eric Cioe Pena is working at an emergency covid hospital that has been set up on staten island. Ijoke with people that i dont remember the days of the week anymore, i dont remember how many days ive been doing this. Ijust count it like coronavirus day 67, or something. New york has been through a lot and this is certainly testing us to our limits. But i think were all hopeful that this is going to get better. Its been a marathon. Weve been acting like its a sprint. Its as if we were immediately post hurricane. Except the problem is, it wasnt like the hurricane came, hits the coast and then moved away. And we could start recovering. Imagine a hurricane sitting over your city for 50 days. Vacations have been deferred, birthdays have been deferred. All were doing is basically sleeping and coming to work and dealing with coronavirus. So, ive finally made it to my hotel room. A cute little kitchen. There is my famous insta pot. Nancy is a Critical Care nurse who will be working in the same hospital as dr cioe pena. I left my daughter this morning but im sad to leave her but i know shes in good hands. Here is the bathroom, this is where the action is. Make up, hair, i dont know what. Shower. It looks kind of cosy to me and i think im going to be very happy here over the next eight weeks. Christina and derek will be working in the bronx. Theres our hospital. The borough with the highest death rate in new york. We came two days early to get a tour. A lot of sick people. Theyre coming in quick. That right there is exactly what you think it is. Theyre about to take a truck away from the hospital. By early april, the situation in new york is so bad that refrigerated trucks are being used as makeshift morgues, and mass graves dug to deal with the number of bodies. So, its the morning of my first shift. Didnt really sleep very well last night. Im working a 12 hour shift today and tomorrow. So, im just keeping my fingers crossed for the best. Alrighty, wish me luck. This is my first shift and all day today, weve been going through testing and honestly everywhere isjust go time. Were doing the best we can. I heard the other day that if you can work in the bronx er, you can work anywhere. So, hopefully we get through these 13 weeks with my sanity. So we just finished our shift today, trying to decontaminate and disinfect everything. Shes already taking off her shoes. Laughs. Dont lose this now. We keep everything in a bag separated. Its unlike anything ive ever seen before. To see so many critical patients coming in at one time. The ambulances were non stop. It seemed like every two or three minutes, there was an ambulance coming in. There was other cases where you know the situation is not going to end well. Whenever i see it to this degree, its almost as though death is sitting on some of these patients shoulders whispering in their ear or something. Theres been times when i walked out the door and said to myself, what in the world has just happened 7 time to get out of here. Nancy has been assigned to work in one of her hospitals pop up intensive care units. So thirsty. Which have been created to deal with the overflow of covid 19 patients. Time to go back. No rest for the weary. With these pop up icus, the issue is the lack of access to equipment that we need to take care of the patients. The nurses are spending a good majority of their time running around hospital trying to find supplies. I think all of the nurses are doing the best that they can but its definitely stressful. It was busy, it was definitely an experience today. I got in there and they were so short staffed that they tried to give me four icu patients, which is kind of unheard of. Usually, two is the norm, three is a lot. But four, there was no way. So well see how it goes. Im on foranother12 hour shift tomorrow. Its going to take some strength just to get myself upstairs. It has become all consuming. Im getting reminded by my family to take small breaks, especially when im with my kids. But when im at home, theres almost like this guilt that im not still there. There is much more fighting to do. There has been a lots of absentee fathering unfortunately. I actually got home early enough to put my son to bed last night and the thing he was sad about yesterday was that he doesnt get to see me, which breaks my heart. Hes going to remember me not being there more than the pandemic and the virus and that hurts. Its definitely something that weighs on me and affects me, and affects them. After i get my scrubs on and my compression socks, every nurse should wear compression socks. Were at high risk, the virus is everywhere. No matter how many times we wash our hands, no matter how many times we sanitise, the risk is very high. I have a scrubcap. Right now, we have 40 Agency Nurses from my agency that are picking up the work for the nurses that are out sick. There are more of us working in the er right now than the regular employees. Its extremely busy, its just a constant flow, one after the other, after the other. An ambulance brought in an elderly person, about 15 minutes, 20 minutes later, they were in a body bag. They come in alert, and then its mind blowing how fast theyjust go. After this is over and healthcare workers dont get the therapy they need to process the stuff, i think the statistics are going to be high with suicide attempts in healthcare workers, so thats something we really have to watch out for. As somebody who works in psych, i know that its a possibility. Well, we just finished our first two days in a row. Im wiped out, im tired. You dont realise how much it takes, wearing all of this ppe. My head feels like its 100 pounds heavier on my neck. Its been a long night, its after midnight, weve been here since noon and its time to hit the road, decompress and. Shower both chuckle. Nancy has just finished a shift on a covid unit where all of the patients are dependent on a ventilator. Generally, those people that are in that unit are not likely to survive. Since this whole virus situation started, theres only been two patients who have made it out of the unit and survived thats very, very little. The age range was pretty great. There was a patient there who was 26, which i thought was really eye opening because it just further reiterates how the covid virus affects everyone. But this young girl and shes still there and shes still fighting for her life and its sad. Home, sweet home she sighs. Time to get these scrubs off. Ugh, my feet are killing me its been a long day. Pants they are going to go into the basket. Sighs. I think now people are exhausted and i think people just want respite. I think the nurses want to get back to what they were doing, you know, before this happened. Their units have been turned so upside down. But i think at this point, people are just ready to quit quit the covid crisis, i mean, not theirjob. You know, as a nurse, we give all of our energy to others and keep none for ourselves. I think thats why were always tired. Across the city, in the bronx, the virus is highlighting stark inequalities. You have the projects, low income housing, a large immigrant population. We are seeing mostly impoverished individuals, you see the black and Latino Community as well. These are essential workers, you know . These are our essential workers, you know . Theyre the bus drivers, theyre the janitors, theyre those that deliver food, deliver mail. And so, while many people are able to quarantine themselves, or they have the luxury of working at home, essential workers dont have that opportunity, so it gives them an increased chance of being exposed to the virus. Black and latino new yorkers are dying at twice the rate of white residents in the city. After developing symptoms of fatigue and a headache, christina has been sent home from the hospital. I was crying. I was just more scared because i didnt want to be like some of the patients that weve seen i mean, they get really, really sick. And today, shes going for a test. If it is positive, ijust hope that i have built up some type of immunity. Im pretty nervous. Im hoping its not, but ijust feel like a truck hit me and my muscles hurt. Any symptoms right now . Uh, just fatigue and a headache still. And my stomach is not right. Youve got to tilt your head back all the way back, as far as you can. 0oh great. All right, youre all set. It takes 2a hours to know the results so thats going to be really hard, to sit and wait on the results. So if things, for me, get really bad, to where i have to go in the hospital, derek has graciously told me hell take care of chloe and the dog. If it gets really bad and i dont make it out of the hospital, then chloe and i have had the discussions about, you know, where she would go and who she would go with. If christina tests positive, shell be one of the growing number of infected nurses. And some are becoming gravely ill. When i was training in brooklyn, there is a nurse there who works the night shift and she kind of has this reputation of being a battleaxe, and i obviously grew to love her and knew that she had the biggest heart in the world. And i was told today by a colleague that shes in Critical Care in the icu on a ventilator with coronavirus. Um, and this is, uh, symbolic of a lot of the angst and the hurt that happens with healthcare workers because were not only watching patients die but youre also hearing about colleagues that are suffering and so, it feels like an attack on all fronts it feels like its a personal attack, its a professional attack, and its hard sometimes, i think, to see past that and to get through that, because its really an acute stress and it feels like its unravelling a lot of our lives as healthcare workers. That is the most challenging part is that these patients are kind of alone and the families are not able to be there. There was a gentleman that i was caring for and he wasjust not in a good way and i was holding his hand. I was like im going to go get some coffee and im gonna come back. I came back with the coffee and he was dead. Yeah. He died. So, i was gone maybe 15 minutes. And there was nobody with him. So, it was sad. And i felt, to some extent, that i did a disservice because i wasnt there and i went to get coffee. So, um, i hate that. Um, i hate that more than anything. And then after that experience, you just flip back into nurse mode, you know . Now you have to just do what you have to do. A well known er doctor here in new york who battled to save the lives of so many others. 49 year old dr lorna breen took her own life after weeks of treating patients with covid 19. She died in virginia sunday. When i heard about dr breen, i wasnt surprised. Its tragic. And in the same day, we heard about an ems technician who also killed himself, and ijust think its the tip of the iceberg. The other day, i was talking to a tech who was responsible for putting the bodies in the bags. And he said, thats all i did, day after day. I would put a body in a bag, take it downstairs and then there was no room downstairs they were just everywhere. Thats when the trucks came. They would fill it up with 55 bodies, it would leave and then another truck would be right there, theyd fill it up. He said it was horrible. I said, you have to talk to somebody about it. It will never go away. The end of a really long and hard week. Ijust finished the zoom Memorial Service for a colleague dr lorna breen. Lorna was a former colleague and a friend and, last sunday, took her own life. You know, her family says that it was related to the stress of coronavirus, and that really hurt. In addition, the head nurse that i think i mentioned in one of my previous diaries passed away last week as well. A nurse manager that i know also passed away. And an intensivist downstate, where i trained, also passed away. So last week really, for me, was the worst week of this. It really did feel like a war. And any other event you would stop, you would mourn, you would be with people. Tough week. I hope next weeks a little bit better. By early may, hospitals are finally starting to see fewer admissions and fewer deaths. And new york is beginning to ease lockdown restrictions. It has been a crisis, and a painful one. But were coming out of the other side. Christinas coronavirus test was negative but she and her daughter chloe have returned to missouri. Ill talk to you guys tomorrow. Nancy is about to head back to maryland to see her daughter and mum. And derek is continuing in the bronx. Its been a great adventure, its challenging, but the whole thing has been great. Over 100,000 people have died from coronavirus in the us since march. Just under 30,000 of those are in new york state. It has survived what its governor called a war. Now, it has to come to terms with how life has changed. We tickled the brink in new york. The system was about to collapse. Its completely disrupted normal in every sense of that word. There is no normal anymore. Theres no going back from this. And we will honestly never be the same