Joseph Omoigui

The world continues to battle with the coronavirus epidemic. Sadly the virus has shown signs of exacerbation in recent weeks in Europe and now in the U.S Over 300,000 confirmed cases and 12,000 deaths were reported across the U.S. as of April 5th. It is safe to say the virus is spreading like wildfire in the U.S. and indeed across the world; over 1 million confirmed cases and 80,000 deaths world wide. "A war is raging on planet Earth and humanity is under heavy fire. Forget about alien species and their supposed invasion, coronavirus is the enemy that is here and that must be defeated" At the frontline in this battle are hundreds of thousands of health-care workers world wide risking their lives to contain the epidemic. According to Dr Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist at WHO, the majority of health professions worldwide are women. Data released by the Shanghai Women's Federation in Shanghai China shows that over 90% of the nurses and 50% of the doctors combating the epidemic are women. In Hubei, the province in China at the center of the outbreak, there are an estimated 100,000 female health-care workers at the frontline accounting for 90% of the entire health-care workforce. In the U.S. 78% of health-care jobs are held by women, according to the U.S Census Bureau. Nurses are the ones on the front lines of patient interaction and women make up 85% of the workforce. In Europe the stats are very similar. Women have been in the trenches from day one since the start of the pandemic. CHINA- Many health-workers have been severely exposed to the deadly virus, especially during the early days of the outbreak. Initially, mostly due to authorities and management failing to take necessary precautions and later due to work overload and exhaustion. In Wuhan, nurses there did not receive necessary gear (Protective suit, gloves, mask) until the number of confirmed cases reached 59. By then, it was too late for some. Guo Quin, a female nurse and some of her colleagues tested positive sometime in January after being exposed to the virus through their work taking blood samples and sputum without protective suits. In China over 20,000 health-care workers have been infected by the virus. Jiang Jiang, aka Liang Yu, a vocal women rights advocate and social media influencer feels reactions, donations and general commentary on the pandemic has exposed a larger picture of collective societal ignorance amongst people. “Most of the donated supplies constitute food and protective gear, which are undeniably important, yet there’s barely anyone thinking of donating basic sanitary necessities,” she said. “When such a considerable percentage of frontline workers are female how could you overlook their menstrual cycles? Just the thought of this is extremely disappointing.” "You can't use the toilet when donning the gear so we wear diapers when on duty, thus when a female worker is menstruating it tends to be really difficult as we are compelled to wear the blood soaked pad for prolonged hours, often hindering personal hygiene," a female doctor Chen explaining the challenges female health workers are facing. The lack of donations or provisions towards female sanitary necessities given the numbers of female health-care workers doing 12 to 24hours shifts is just one of the problems Jiang Jiang is trying to create awareness about. In China there has also been a clear lack of recognition and underrepresentation of women when depicting health-workers on the frontline in the fight against the deadly virus. Given their frontline interaction with patients and communities, it is concerning that women and their needs have not been fully integrated into global health surveillance, detection and prevention mechanisms. EUROPE - As the virus continues to spread in Western Europe, the number of health-care workers infected by the virus has also been on the rise. The health ministry in Spain confirmed that from the total 40,000 confirmed cases as at March 24, 14% were health-care workers. In France, Spain and Italy over 35 health-care professionals have died of the coronavirus, and thousands isolated. “The virus was already among us when we were really only testing those who came from Wuhan and then from Italy,” said Ángela Hernández Puente, a doctor who is the deputy secretary general of the doctors’ union in Spain. “Some of our doctors unfortunately worked without adequate protection and acted as vectors.” As the numbers of health-workers infected by the virus continues to rise world wide, it is a no-brainer that women will be affected more given their superior numbers. In the face of the deadly pandemic women across the world have shown courage and selflessness beyond measure, risking their lives and putting everything one the line to fight the virus. In Italy, one of the hotspots of the coronavirus pandemic, a group of religious women are selflessly risking their lives to care for the sick and elderly. Whether they are qualified nurses or cloistered nuns, they're signing on for endless hospital shifts, tending to infected patients, keeping an open line for those most in need and making sure basic services are provided. The Daughters of St. Camillus, whose charism is to dedicate themselves to nursing the sick and the elderly, have been in the trenches since the start of the pandemic. They have been active in places like Treviso, Brescia and Cremona, all at the heart of the crisis in the north of the country. Sr. Lancy Ezhupara, Director of the San Camillo Hospital in Treviso and Secretary-General of her Order said: "In all our structures nurse nuns are selflessly risking their lives" Their fourth vow in addition to their three classic vows of poverty, obedience and chastity: that of serving the sick even at the cost of their lives is even more meaningful today as the sisters go about their jobs tending to the infected in crowded hospital wards. According to Sr. Lancy, the countless challenges including a shortage of equipment and the overflow of patients are not restraining the sisters from continuing in their mission to save lives, instead the Daughters of St. Camillus draw comfort in their common fearlessness and readiness to do anything to be close to those who suffer. "They are aware that they too can die, but prayer and the intercession of St. Camillus gives us strength,” she said. What a measure of courage, what a measure of selflessness, what a measure of love. As the virus continues to spread world wide, more women will be deployed to the frontlines, more women will be called to sacrifice their lives, more women will be called to work tirelessly. We must never ignore their needs or sacrifices.