Italy, Spain ICU pressures decline, but emotional toll rises

ROME (AP) — The pressures on intensive care units in Italy and Spain may have eased in recent days as new coronavirus cases decline. But the psychological toll on doctors and nurses is only now beginning to emerge. Already, two nurses in Italy have killed themselves, and psychologists have made therapists available to give free consultations for medical personnel to cope with the emotional toll of seeing so much death. Six weeks into Italy’s outbreak, the world’s deadliest, the adrenaline rush that accompanied the first phase of the emergency has been replaced by fatigue, fear of infection and the trauma of having watched colleagues, friends and loved ones get infected and die.