<p class="title">A worn-out nurse slumps over her keyboard in a widely shared image symbolic of the extreme fatigue that Italian healthcare workers are facing as they battle Europe's worst outbreak of the novel <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank">coronavirus</a> pandemic.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The picture is of Elena Pagliarini, a nurse in the northern region of Lombardy which has been worst hit by the disease.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/coronavirus-updates-live-four-dead-in-china-hotel-collapse-quater-of-italy-population-put-under-lockdown-799686.html#1" target="_blank">Track live updates on the coronavirus here</a></p>.<p>Nationwide Italy has more than 1,400 deaths from the virus and 21,000 infections, with a quarter of the country's intensive care beds taken up by those with the illness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In normal times Lombardy is the economic heart of Italy, equipped with one of the world's best health systems.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But those who staff it -- like Pagliarini -- have been put under enormous strain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"On one hand I was annoyed to see my photo everywhere, I was ashamed of showing my weakness," Pagliarini told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But then I was happy because I got beautiful messages from people who empathised with my story," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I actually don't feel physically tired, I can work for 24 hours straight if it's necessary but I won't hide the fact that right now I'm anxious because I'm fighting an enemy that I don't know," she added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She's just one of many healthcare workers who have expressed their concern at the toll that the outbreak is taking, on facilities and personnel alike.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's almost two weeks since I've seen my son or my family because I'm worried about infecting them," Daniele Macchini, a hospital doctor in the northern city of Bergamo, (also in Lombardy) wrote in a widely-shared Facebook post.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I settle for some photos of my son which I look at through my tears, and a few video calls," he says.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Further south in Tuscany, the health system is also starting to feel the pressure.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A nurse in the Tuscan town of Grossetto, Alessia Bonari, posted an image on Instagram of her face bearing marks from a long day of wearing a surgical mask.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm worried because the mask might not be fitting right on my face, I might touch myself accidentally with dirty gloves, the glasses might not totally cover my eyes," she wrote in the caption.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She said that the protective gear staff had to wear meant that she couldn't drink or go to the toilet for six hours at a time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To add to the physical fatigue she said she and all her colleagues had been "psychologically tired" for weeks from the workload.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The San Giovanni Bosco hospital in the northern city of Turin this week put a mental health team in place to help its staff counter the stress of the current situation, above all for those working in emergency departments and in intensive care.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All those who need it can come forward, we're there for everyone," Monica Agnesone, one of the 20 psychologists in the team, told the La Stampa newspaper.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She explained that other doctors and hospital staff were suffering from the "fear of making mistakes, of being infected, of not being able to carry on in these conditions".</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Thursday Italian media reported that in the northern town of Bergamo alone around 50 doctors had tested positive for the virus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Six of them had to be admitted to hospital, with one needing intensive care.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Agnesone's strategies for coping with the stress will no doubt be increasingly called on in the weeks to come.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She recommends "carving out moments where you can detach, re-centre yourself, lowering the level of tension by using breathing exercises and focusing on other things." Otherwise, she warns, "stress ends up wearing out your energy". </p>
<p class="title">A worn-out nurse slumps over her keyboard in a widely shared image symbolic of the extreme fatigue that Italian healthcare workers are facing as they battle Europe's worst outbreak of the novel <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank">coronavirus</a> pandemic.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The picture is of Elena Pagliarini, a nurse in the northern region of Lombardy which has been worst hit by the disease.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/coronavirus-updates-live-four-dead-in-china-hotel-collapse-quater-of-italy-population-put-under-lockdown-799686.html#1" target="_blank">Track live updates on the coronavirus here</a></p>.<p>Nationwide Italy has more than 1,400 deaths from the virus and 21,000 infections, with a quarter of the country's intensive care beds taken up by those with the illness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In normal times Lombardy is the economic heart of Italy, equipped with one of the world's best health systems.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But those who staff it -- like Pagliarini -- have been put under enormous strain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"On one hand I was annoyed to see my photo everywhere, I was ashamed of showing my weakness," Pagliarini told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"But then I was happy because I got beautiful messages from people who empathised with my story," she said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I actually don't feel physically tired, I can work for 24 hours straight if it's necessary but I won't hide the fact that right now I'm anxious because I'm fighting an enemy that I don't know," she added.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She's just one of many healthcare workers who have expressed their concern at the toll that the outbreak is taking, on facilities and personnel alike.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It's almost two weeks since I've seen my son or my family because I'm worried about infecting them," Daniele Macchini, a hospital doctor in the northern city of Bergamo, (also in Lombardy) wrote in a widely-shared Facebook post.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I settle for some photos of my son which I look at through my tears, and a few video calls," he says.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Further south in Tuscany, the health system is also starting to feel the pressure.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A nurse in the Tuscan town of Grossetto, Alessia Bonari, posted an image on Instagram of her face bearing marks from a long day of wearing a surgical mask.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm worried because the mask might not be fitting right on my face, I might touch myself accidentally with dirty gloves, the glasses might not totally cover my eyes," she wrote in the caption.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She said that the protective gear staff had to wear meant that she couldn't drink or go to the toilet for six hours at a time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">To add to the physical fatigue she said she and all her colleagues had been "psychologically tired" for weeks from the workload.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The San Giovanni Bosco hospital in the northern city of Turin this week put a mental health team in place to help its staff counter the stress of the current situation, above all for those working in emergency departments and in intensive care.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"All those who need it can come forward, we're there for everyone," Monica Agnesone, one of the 20 psychologists in the team, told the La Stampa newspaper.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She explained that other doctors and hospital staff were suffering from the "fear of making mistakes, of being infected, of not being able to carry on in these conditions".</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Thursday Italian media reported that in the northern town of Bergamo alone around 50 doctors had tested positive for the virus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Six of them had to be admitted to hospital, with one needing intensive care.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Agnesone's strategies for coping with the stress will no doubt be increasingly called on in the weeks to come.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She recommends "carving out moments where you can detach, re-centre yourself, lowering the level of tension by using breathing exercises and focusing on other things." Otherwise, she warns, "stress ends up wearing out your energy". </p>