Now TWO emergency room doctors in the U.S. are infected with coronavirus and are in critical condition

Two emergency medicine doctors, in New Jersey and Washington state, are in critical condition as a result of coronavirus, reinforcing concerns that the nation’s front-line medical workers are becoming especially vulnerable to the virus, the American College of Emergency Physicians said.

“A lot of us think that despite everything we do, we will probably be exposed,” said Dr. William Jaquis, the chair of the group. Still, he said, “The first reported case certainly sends a shock wave through the community.”

One of the ill physicians, a man in his 40s, was working in the Seattle area, where the nation’s outbreak began. “As far as we know, he had the protective equipment he needed,” Jaquis said. “This was an area with an outbreak, so they were expecting and prepared. That obviously makes us more nervous.”

Jaquis said the doctor is in intensive care and on ventilation.

The other physician, a doctor in his 70s in Patterson, New Jersey, was also in isolation in intensive care. The doctor led his institution’s emergency preparedness and was admitted to the hospital several days ago with upper respiratory problems, the physicians’ group said.

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