♪♪ andrew cuomo: the president said this is a war. i agree with that, this is a war. then let's act that way and let's act that way now. karishma vyas: as new york rose from the ashes of 9/11, first responders became america's heroes. now they're under attack again, this time from a hidden enemy. male: yo, mike, close the truck, close the truck. karishma: new york is a key battleground in the global war on covid-19. megan pfeiffer: there's been a lot of deceased people, a lotta people just waiting to die.

karishma: over two weeks, we'll take you to the frontlines. arlene meertens: it's gonna be a bleed-out, a massive bleed-out. karishma: emergency workers fighting for survival as the pandemic peaks. male: just cover the mouth. cover the mouth. karishma: it's a crisis that is laying bare the fault lines at the heart of america and its iconic city. arlene: enough is enough. give us what we need to fight this coronavirus pandemic. ♪♪♪ [siren blaring] male: updating you on the current numbers this morning. the worldwide death toll of covid-19 has now surpassed more than 100,000. yesterday,he numbe of confirmed case- ♪♪♪ karishma: paramedics respond to a 911 call in queens.

an elderly woman is struggling to breathe, a symptom consistent with covid-19. it's good friday, marking the death of christ 2,000 years ago, but today america is marking its own grim milestone. megan: we're gonna have to take her to the closest hospital, okay? karishma: the country now leads the world in covid-19 deaths. around one-third of those are in new york, the city i call home. megan: it's helping you. it's oxígeno. it's oxygen, oxygen. there you go. male: i've gotta confirm that there's only one patient in the building. karishma: daily ambulance callouts have more than doubled

since the start of march. paramedics like megan pfeiffer are pulling double shifts, trying to give each patient the care they deserve, but they're also afraid for themselves. megan: we take as many precautions as we can, but, you know, there's been several studies with viral load. and the more you're exposed to it, potentially the worse it can be, and we don't know a lot about it yet, so it's difficult. karishma: megan and her partner have let us accompany them on their shift today. [siren blaring] karishma: we're not allowed to ride in the actual ambulance for safety reasons, but we're following behind as they do their shift, and john, who's also a paramedic, is taking us. karishma: john rugen has been a paramedic for over 20 years, but nothing he's seen compares to this. john rugen: anybody that we're treating, whether you have a

fractured ankle, to the person who's actually complaining of fever and cough, we're treating them as, you know, you're a possible covid patient or a carrier of the virus, 'cause we have to protect ourselves. karishma: on the west side of queens, megan and her partner attend an elderly couple with covid symptoms. they've been sick for a week, but their condition has suddenly nose-dived. their daughter, who's also ill, suspects she was the one who infected them. female: i've been outside all the time when i was still working, you know, and i go to supermarket, you know, for their food, grocery shopping, so i guess it's me. i brought it home. karishma: that must be really difficult, to think that, you know, it was possibly you that-- female: it is difficult, because sometimes when i think about it, i kinda blame myself.

[siren blaring] karishma: are you guys scared? john: we're very scared. we're scared for ourselves, you know, because even though we're healthcare professionals, we have members that are--have underlying medical conditions themselves, whether it's high blood pressure, heart problems, asthma. they're putting their lives in jeopardy. they're also putting their families in jeopardy. you know, i haven't really spent time around my parents 'cause they have medical conditions, but, you know, i check on them daily through the phone, make sure they're okay, make sure they're staying inside. i have a son. he's 8 years old. i haven't seen him since this started. karishma: john's not alone. over the last few weeks, many paramedics have chosen to

shelter their families from the dangers and the horrors of their work. megan: we're dealing with a lot, last week, at least, a lot of cardiac arrests and people who were already deceased in their homes. prior to that there were a lot of really critical patients, with oxygen levels really, really low, numbers we've never seen before. there's one crew who pronounced a patient, and then shortly after that they had another patient who had hanged themself, so we're, kind of, expecting with everything going on, unfortunately, more self-inflicted injuries, as well, in addition to everything else, which is really tough to deal with. my co-workers have become like my family. they're really the only ones that i can be around and it's not a concern because at this point we're all exposed. ♪♪♪ andrew: as governor of new york, i am asking healthcare professionals across the country, if you don't have a

healthcare crisis in your community, please come help us in new york now. ♪♪♪ karishma: the scale of the crisis in new york and the rate at which infections have soared is staggering. we heard about the first case on march 1. just three weeks later, the city accounted for 5% of global infections. on march 22, a city-wide shutdown came into effect, but as the streets and stations emptied, the hospitals and the morgues continued to fill. ♪♪♪ karishma: some have described new york city under covid as a warzone. i've covered wars in my career.

they're not like this. in war, the destruction is out in the open. here, it's behind closed doors. ♪♪♪ this emptiness is menacing because you know what it's hiding. ♪♪♪ male: people are being pushed into bankruptcy. travel is down. the supply chain is being interrupted because of panic, not because of the virus. ♪ well, now [inaudible] as my precious time rolls by ♪ ♪ got to live my own life ♪ ♪ no room for compromise ♪ ♪ people say i'm crazy, but i don't believe the hype ♪ karishma: only in new york will you see a man strumming a trump guitar in his underpants in the middle of a pandemic.

♪ if you really wanna live, feel the way i feel ♪ ♪ you gotta whip out your balls of steel ♪ male: i've seen him out here. for 20 years the guy's been out here. karishma: and what do you think of him? male: he's an iconic fixture in times square area. he's out here rain or shine, cold or sunny. look at him. ♪ if you really wanna live, feel the way i feel ♪ ♪ hey, you gotta whip out ♪ male: i'm showing off, i'm sorry. male: naked cowboy. [laughing] male: you know, the few people that are still remaining, new yorkers, a lot of 'em i already know, so they're like, "oh, i can't believe you're here," which is great. it's very enriching and also for them and for me. male: being out here, it's so great to see you, man. male: thank you, buddy. male: and then, there are all the essential workers, the police officers, the firemen. know what i'm saying? everybody driving by. the city is coming back. we're gonna rock 'n' roll, kill it.

not a big deal. and i wanna be seen as somebody who never left the frontlines and was considered essential. male: even though it's deserted, we're still here, right, cowboy? ♪ trump's gonna build a wall ♪ ♪ that wall's gonna protect us all ♪ ♪ sounds like a good idea to me ♪ ♪ he got the economy moving again ♪ ♪ with lower taxes for you, my friend ♪ ♪ sounds like a good idea to me ♪ male: i'm not making any money, and i don't care. i wanna make history. ♪ trump's gonna build a wall ♪ ♪ that wall's gonna protect us all ♪ ♪ sound like a good idea to me ♪ male: i don't care if you're in a hospital bed with a ventilator. say, "coronavirus is my bitch. i'm gonna use this to make me better." i mean, that's what everybody has to do. ♪ sounds like a good idea to me ♪ male: some people know how to give an elbow. female: i won't swallow.

male: what? female: we're essential medical staff. we're from washington, indianapolis, kentucky, san diego, houston. we're here to staff the covid hospitals and here with about 300 other nurse practitioners. karishma: you're here to reinforce the state's medical staff? female: yes. female: we're all from other states, and new york has really been hit the worst, and all we know is what we've seen on tv, and you never know if it's being overplayed or underplayed. and you see what, you know, your governor says, what president trump says. you just see all kinds of stuff, and so you really just don't know what we're walking into, and so we're kinda just going in blind. ♪♪♪ karishma: i meet up later with the visiting health workers in central park.

some of them like zach kannapel, an icu nurse from kentucky, have come from states where the covid burden is low and hospital staff have been sent home. zach kannapel: i kept seeing the numbers going up. they were struggling here and needed help. got the details. called. and in the meantime i was trying to figure out things with work, and they basically told me i had to resign to come here, if i wanted to come. and i said bye. karishma: so, you don't have a job to go back to right now? zach: no. karishma: wow. why did you do it, zach? zach: just because--yeah, i'm a nurse. like, i would rather be here helping make a difference than sit at home. karishma: the nurses are waiting to start their assignments. none of them has worked during an outbreak before. female: nursing is a lot as it is before any pandemic came into play, so now we have this situation going on. and you already know, "okay, i have this person's life on my hands," but now it like ten mes more critil.

you don't wanna make a mistake and, unfortunately, under these type of circumstances mistakes are bound to happen. female: i'm expecting it to be pretty crazy. i'm expecting it to kinda look like a trauma zone, so-- karishma: you're bracing yourself. female: bracing myself, yes. zach: hopefully, we can just take it a day at a time and go in there with the best attitude and hit the ground running. karishma: back near their hotel in times square, i arrange to call zach in a few days, after he's started his assignment. getting healthcare workers to talk for this story has been tough. the city's hospitals have gone into media lockdown, blocking access and gagging staff. ♪♪♪ reports and leaked videos describe chaos, critical shortages of personal protective equipment, or ppe, testing sites

overwhelmed, and bodies piled up in refrigerated trucks, something we've been able to film ourselves despite the best efforts of hospitals to prevent it. male: i'm here working 12 hours a day, and you're recording us moving bodies. that's not cool. yo, mike, close the truck, close the truck. karishma: it all adds up to a system that isn't coping, and it's not only health workers who are vulnerable. ed mullins: we're gonna try to get more. this stuff is not easy to get, though. i had ordered 200,000 masks. they're held up kennedy airport. apparently, customs is taking everything and sending it to the hospitals, which i get, but we also get you to the hospital, so, you know. karishma: president of new york's sergeants benevolent association, ed mullins, has been a vocal critic of the lack

of ppe made available for police. ed: be careful, right? be careful, right? karishma: almost 20% of the nypd is off sick. more than two and a half thousand have tested positive for covid-19. mullins and the union he heads have taken matters into their own hands, raising funds for a massive handout of ppe, hand sanitizer, and bleach to nypd precincts. ed: so, we've seen this city go from the early '80s, where, you know, 3,000 murders, crime all over the place. then the world trade center, which, you know, is a block from here, attacked twice. i actually worked both attacks, and, you know, you think you've seen it all, and then this is what we're dealing with now. and our members are sick, hospitalized, you know? we lost a detective a couple days ago, so we're trying to do

what we can to keep people safe. ed: make sure you keep the mask on, though, and the gloves and all that stuff. don't think it can't happen to you. you know, the guys don't think we're gonna get it, so you get it, you know? nobody thinks it's gonna be you, you know? how's it going? male: district 3 transit. ed: district 3 transit. male: yes, sir, thank you. ed: district 3. how many people you got sick? male: we have about 40. ed: forty? male: yes, sir. ed: wow, that's not good. that's not good at all, you know? ed: i've never seen anything like this. i thought i've seen it all. you know, to go uptown, 10 blocks from here, could take you 20 minutes. right now, he could be there in about a minute and a half. there's no traffic. there's nobody on the streets. this is almost like a zombie apocalypse, you know? i would equate this to a science-fiction movie.

karishma: so, can you just tell us what are the challenges you're really facing on the job right now? female: you're just trying to stay healthy. you don't wanna get sick, and you don't know what--you know, who has the coronavirus. and then, you're afraid you're gonna bring it home, so we're just trying to play it safe, cleaning everything. my hands are--i can't even tell you. it's not easy. mentally it's draining. karishma: are you worried about the next couple of weeks? female: if you're not, you're crazy. ♪♪♪ [siren blaring]

karishma: i hear from icu nurse zach that he's been working in a hospital in the bronx. we've been messaging each other over the last few nights. now he's ready to talk. oh, there you are. hi, zach. how you doing? zach: right now, i'm okay. i'm exhausted. my feet hurt. and it's only what? da3. i had four patients. the floor i was on before that today, had six, d all my patients were on, like, three different drips, you know? sedation, and then pressure-support medicine to keep their blood pressure up, as well as on the ventilator, and it was just me, myself, and i with those four patients.

karishma: how does this compare to what you're used to? zach: this is different, because they progress so fast. they'll come in short of breath, and then we'll put 'em on oxygen, and then that won't help them, and then the next thing you know they're intubated. it happens within, like, an hour or less, and it's prressed that quick. a lot of 'em will come in saying they had a cough for, you know, five or ten da, or symptoms for that long, a then, i guess, all their immune system just gets overtaken and can't fit it off anymore. and it finally catches up to them, and they can't brehe, so then they end up coming in to us. like, normally, i would have two patients in the icu and, usually, i would have one that's not as sick and on all those medicines, and then i'd have one that was. but now i have four that are that sick at the same time, so i

don't sit down, don't go to lunch because i'm so focused on trying to keep them afloat. there were about six patients that passed on that one floor i was on today. karishma: just today? six patients died just today? zach: yeah, on that one floor, and it's all ages. the young are in there, too. there is people my age, like twins, that's died at this hospital. karishma: what is the ntal ste of the staff you're working with who've been doing this for weeks now? zach: they feel like it's a warzone, you know? like, they're in living hell. like, your worst nightmare as a nurse. they're tired but they kp fighting, you know, 'cause

that's wt they're there for. ♪♪♪ male radio host: new york needs more beds, more ventilators, more ppe, more health professionals, and that includes more ambulances and crews. karishma: zach's experience appears to confirm what hospitals have tried to hide. healthcare workers are chronically over-worked and under-resourced. in the time we've been filming this story, the voices of dissent have grown bolder. arlene: enough is enough. give us what we need to continue to fight this coronavirus pandemic. if you do not give it to us, more of our co-workers will die.

and we are coming here even if we're tired, even if we're afraid. we are coming because we know that lives matter. it has to stop. you're welcome. karishma: outside a medical center in brooklyn, staff have come together in protest. patient-re technician and mother of seven arlene meertens says she's terrified. karishma: do you know colleagues, friends who have been infected, who are sick? arlene: i have three co-workers that have died that i know of. male: it could be contact. it could be droplets. could be airborne. they don't know. female: before this covid even started, we already had problem with staffing. one rn has to deal--has to sometimes take care of 60 patients. karishma: six? female: sixty. six-zero. last time, i was 1 nurse for 57 patient. karishma: are you buying your own protective gear to help you

get through this? female: you have to buy it as extra, because if you're gonna get, like, 1 or 2 for the day, you have to see 60 room, you have to go to 60 patient, you know, it's only fair that you cover yourself and cover them. karishma: resident doctor mike pappas and other protestors here are risking their jobs by speaking out. mike pappas: the hospitals are actually threatening employees, and the way that hospitals actually couch that, too, is they'll say, "your job could be on the line, and you don't wanna risk your job. because you care about patients, don't you? so, if you came out here and you--we had to fire you because you were violating our policies, then you would be putting patients at risk." karishma: mike is protesting more than work conditions. he sees america's user-pay health system as the true sickness, leaving the uninsured and the poor most vulnerable.

mike: i see coronavirus as something that is magnifying all of the systemic issues tha have always put people at risk. it's magnifying the racism, the systemic racism that is central to our society. that's why predominantly black and brown people are being diagnosed with and dying from coronavirus in the u.s. it's magnifying how the economic system puts profit over all else. we see that in companies trying to raise prices of ventilators during a pandemic. [siren blaring] karishma: i'm back with the ambulance service in queens, on a callout to a woman who has stopped breathing.

inside, first responders start cpr. male: 4-9-victor, cardiac arrest, first call, in the house. karishma: we've heard reports of a spike in cardiac arrests in people's homes. male: who's next? karishma: paramedics believe most are covid-related. male: gimme one second. just cover the mouth. cover her mouth with--yeah. karishma: we've also been hearing that due to the sheer number of 911 calls when the outlook isn't good-- male: how's the cap? male: twenty-nine. karishma: paramedics have been cutting short the length of time that they administer cpr. male: telemetry, 4-9-victor, second call, cardiac arrest. karishma: in this case, emergency responders refuse to give up, but after more than 40 minutes there's still no response. the woman is pronounced dead on scene. male: all right, doc.

yep, thank you. megan: we've had more cardiac arrests. i don't even know the exact numbers, but i think more in the last week than last year combined. there were some ambulances who did about five cardiac arrests in one shift. karishma: the true death toll of covid-19 may never be known. at the fdny ambulance depot in queens, i catch up with paramedic megan pfeiffer. it's been a grueling week. megan: it's been kinda hard to deal with because, usually, we get some good calls in between, where we're able to help people a little more, and we see that we're helping them and improve them. but it's just been, like i said, one person after the next after the next after the next. a lotta people dying that we're seeing, and it's really hard to deal with. karishma: yeah, how are you dealing with this mentally? have y noticed changes in yourself? megan: absolutely, there's a lotta ups and downs. there are some days i go home, and i am just so depressed and upset. i'm hysterical, crying. i've had anxiety attacks, and then people then--we try to talk

to each other and kinda really lean on each other. fdny being a family has really been more so than ever, 'cause that's kinda the only support we have. it's a lot easier to talk to a co-worker. they are offering counseling. i haven't really gotten around to it quite yet 'cause we're still in the thick of it, so i think it hasn't fully hit. i'm sure once things settle down it's gonna hit a lot harder and probably will need to talk to somebody. ♪♪♪ male radio host: michigan is also struggling. thousands of healthcare workers, they are sick either with the coronavirus or symptoms of it. female radio host: hospital workers across the country setting up for war and saving coronavirus patients while putting their own lives on the line. ♪♪♪

karishma: hi, zach. how was today? how are you holding up? zach: today was a rough day, i will say. karishma: what was especially rough about today? zach: just how sick they were, how busy it was, how many patients, you know, expired. and then, the bodies are just sitting in the room waiting to be picked up 'cause there are so many in the hospital to be picked up. and overhead they kept paging, "hey, if you have stretchers, please put 'em by the service elevators," because that's what they're trsporting the bodies with, and i guess they were running short stretchers. karishma: because there were so many bodies? zach: yeah. kashma: that hard. are you getting to know any of the patients, learn their--about their life? zach: they're too sick, and they're all on the ventilators, so they're all sedated.

karishma: so, you don't get to talk to th or find out about their life? zach: no, nothing. karishma: you're just too busy keeping them alive. zach: right, and then, the saddest part of it all is there'no family there with them, and so there's no one there whenever they do die. karishma: did anything good happen today, anything you can hold on to or get hope from? zach: none of my patients passed. ♪♪♪

[siren blaring] [man playing saxophone]