INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) — A nurse who has absolutely seen the worst of COVID-19 has a warning for Hoosiers back home.
Ariel Rudd graduated from Butler University but now works as a nursing manager at a New York City hospital.
She's seen her pediatric unit transition to exclusively treating COVID patients.
The disease has taken a toll on her coworkers some of which have gotten critically sick. But Rudd said her concerns working are not for herself.
"I am more nervous that I am going to unknowingly contract the virus and give it to one of my loved ones,” said Rudd. “The hardest part I think is having patients pass away alone in a hospital bed without visitors.”
In New York state there have been more than 200,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 10,000 people who have died.
“I would want people to know especially my family back home in Indiana, that this virus does not discriminate,” said Rudd. “Hopefully the social distancing is working, but if we don’t keep it up then it could be your city next.”