Three workers at same Queens hospital die of coronavirus within two weeks of each other after they handed out masks to doctors and nurses but had no protective gear themselves
- Wayne Edwards, Derik Braswell and Priscilla Carrow all died before April 12
- Were protective equipment managers at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens
- It comes as unions blast hospitals for not doing more to help nonmedical staff
- Some 31 nonmedical hospital workers are thought to have died of Covid-19
Three workers were responsible for managing masks and gloves in the same hospital subbasement for decades - but by April 12 they had all died of Covid-19, an investigation revealed yesterday.
Protective equipment managers Wayne Edwards, 61, his supervisor Derik Braswell, 57, and Priscilla Carrow, 65, handed doctors and nurses supplies from the material management department, but were given little or not protective themselves, according to the New York Times.
Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens did not ask their staff to wear masks until April 15, the same day the state's governor Andrew Cuomo ordered anyone using public transport to don facial coverings, according to emails seen by the newspaper.
But by then three of the employees responsible for handing out the hospital's supply of masks had all passed away from the virus.
Protective equipment manager Priscilla Carrow (pictured), 65, handed doctors and nurses supplies from the material management department at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens. She died on March 30
Ms Carrow died on March 30, after working for the hospital for 25 years. She was a union steward and community leader whose activism focused on issues with housing and fair wages.
Mr Braswell, who died on April 12, loved fishing and was described as a 'gentle giant' by a colleague.
Carmen Charles, president of Local 420, part of the umbrella union for city workers, said some of her members were denied N95 masks because they were reserved for doctors and nurses.
Her union represents 8,500 nonmedical staff members at New York City hospitals. She told the newspaper: 'I understand management wanting to ration the supplies, but at what cost?' She revealed at least eleven members had died.
There have been 13,537 confirmed coronavirus deaths so far in New York City, with some 170,534 positive cases
The largest nurses' union in New York has now accused the state's Department Of Health of turning hospitals into 'petri dishes where the virus can fester and then spread to other healthcare workers' in a lawsuit filed April 20.
Nurses and other healthcare workers were denied any testing even if they did experience symptoms, it said.
There have been 13,537 confirmed coronavirus deaths so far in New York City, with some 170,534 positive cases.
Another hospital worker to die was Rafael Cargill, 60, who succumbed to the virus at home on March 30.
Wayne Edwards (pictured) was found gasping for air on the floor of his apartment and died on April 2. He had worked at Elmhurst Hospital Center for four decades and a friend said his kindness was 'like a bottomless pit'
'We ran over there and had to stand outside,' his sister Lillian said. The paramedics 'wouldn’t allow us to go in. They came out and said they couldn’t save him.'
He handled medical records at Brooklyn Hospital Centre in Fort Greene where at least five employees have died recently.
His sister revealed he sometimes collected records from wards treating Covid-19 patients but was given no protective equipment.
He worried when a colleague who had tested positive for the virus went into work anyway, Lillian said.
Mr Cargill's obituary noted he was 'light on his feet and would dance the night away'.
The three nonmedical workers were colleagues at the Elmhurst Hospital Center in New York (pictured) for decades before their deaths
Another nonmedical worker, Adiel Montgomery, 39, worked as a security guard in the emergency department of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Centre in Brooklyn.
He spoke out in March about the absence of protective equipment, despite doctors wearing masks and coverings to treat Covid-19 patients.
More equipment arrived but Mr Montgomery lost his sense of taste and smell in late March and died after coughing up blood in hospital on April 5. His family were told it was a heart attack.
Gary Washington, 56, worked in housekeeping at New York Presbyterian Allen Hospital in northern Manhattan and cleaned the rooms of coronavirus patients
On March 29, the last day he went into work, he was seen lying down in the cafeteria suffering from body aches.
His wife Rosalyn revealed he died on April 8, the day before their 25th wedding anniversary.
He had texted her from his hospital bed: 'I can’t explain how much I truly love you. I didn’t want to tell you how I cried like a baby thinking about how good you’ve been to me.'
And Eneida Becote's husband Edward, 51, died last month. He had been a patient transporter at Brooklyn Hospital Center for 20 years.
MailOnline has approached Health and Hospitals, the city's public hospital system, Brooklyn Hospital Center and the Department of Health for comment.
Meanwhile an ICU nurse working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic broke down in tears while sharing her heartache at seeing so many of her patients die.
D'neil Schmall, a 35-year-old ER ICU nurse, moved to New York, the global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, on March 30 in order to help fight the deadly illness, and has since been working on a rapid response team that is dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients.
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And in a gut-wrenching video, D'neil opened up about the devastating reality of her job, sobbing uncontrollably as she admitted she is 'tired' of walking into a room to find her patient has died.
'I just feel there is so much anyone can take,' she says, while wiping away her tears.
'I'm tired of walking into rooms, and your patients are dead. You just walk into a room, and there's a dead body there. I'm tired of calling families and telling them that news.'
D'neil, who explained at the start of the video that she had just worked her 'worst day' yet, also expressed her heartache over the number of her fellow nurses who have lost their lives while fighting COVID-19, paying tribute to her 'sisters and brothers' who died while taking care of others.
The former bodybuilder went on to beg for more compassion and understanding from the public, admitting that she feels as though so many people assume medical staff are 'immune' to both the illness - and the heartache that they have to face each and every day.
The 35-year-old only move to New York on March 30 in order to help in the fight against the deadly illness
It comes after Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday night he does not anticipate New York City fully reopening until September despite declining hospitalization rates and deaths.
The city is on lockdown along with the rest of the state until May 15 at least, after which point is must meet seven requirements set out by Gov. Andrew Cuomo before it can reopen.
New York City currently meets three of the four criteria; it is lacking in free hospital beds and does not yet have the number of contact tracers - people to track down everyone who has come into contact with new COVID-19 cases - that Cuomo is insisting on hiring before it can reopen.
De Blasio on Monday said he anticipates a full reopening but not until September
None are thought to have been hired yet and 2,520 are needed to meet Cuomo's requirement.
No one from the mayor's office nor the governor's office would provide numbers for how many had been hired so far when asked repeatedly by DailyMail.com on Monday and Tuesday.
Then, the city can start to reopen in phases, with restaurants and entertainment services among the last industries to come back to life.
In an interview on Monday night with Inside City Hall, De Blasio said that while there will be a softening of restrictions between now and September, he thinks it is a 'safe bet' for a 'fuller reopening'.
'I believe right now we're on a good track for the thing I'm focused on the most, which is getting us up and running and as much normal as we can be by the beginning of September when school begins, I want to see school come back strong.
'I want to see us do the work over the next few months to get to that point.
'It's also a natural time when people are coming back from the summer, sort of have everything get into higher gear.
'Now, I think, in the meantime, we'll be able to start reducing restrictions and opening up certain types of businesses in certain ways.
'But when I think about sort of what a fuller restart looks like, more normalcy, I still think it's going to take, you know, several months.
'September to me is a pretty good bet.
'So, I'm a little more hopeful that by the time you get to end this summer, beginning of the fall, there's a chance for more normalcy,' he said.
An abandoned Times Square on Monday night as the New York City lockdown continued
There are still thousands of new COVID-19 cases in New York City every day but the death and hospitalization rate is lowering
Walkers in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, wearing masks and practicing social distancing on Monday
New York City currently meets three of the four requirements set out by Gov Cuomo
Gov. Cuomo's requirements have been met with mixed reactions.
Some called them 'absurd' and accused him of holding the state 'hostage'.
'The premise that we cannot reopen NYC’s economy until we have sufficient “contact tracers” in place for covid exposure is flatly absurd These arbitrary “test and trace” benchmarks increasingly look like an excuse to delay re-opening after the curve has been flattened,' conservative radio host Buck Sexton tweeted on Monday.
Cautious business leaders refrained from criticizing the requirements on Monday night.
A spokesman for the NYC Hospitality Alliance told DailyMail.com: 'Our government and health officials will have to determine when it’s safe to begin reopening New York City’s restaurant and nightlife industry, and we’ll be right there to help develop and inform the policies and procedures so they make as much sense as possible from an industry perspective.'
Outside New York, there is growing impatience in states with lower infection rates to get back to work.
It has led to protests and accusations that leaders are shackling the economy.
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