Chief physician Ivan Kocan and doctor Ján Lazor check a COVID-19 patient's medical condition. (source: Sme/Jozef Jakubčo)
Amid the coronavirus crisis, access to the Respiratory Clinic of the University Hospital in Martin, central Slovakia, is possible only in two cases - either you work there, or you are a COVID-19 patient whose lungs need help.
Read through and see for yourself what it looks like in the red zone of the clinic in Martin and what frontline workers go through every day.
“Do you suffer from anxiety?” asks Ivan Kocan, a chief physician at the Respiratory Clinic of the University Hospital in Martin, handing me an unwrapped respirator. As soon as I put it on, I begin to realise the meaning behind his question. Those who are not used to wearing a respirator feel a lack of oxygen immediately.
