Coronavirus: Pandemic PTSD

Available for over a year

Several countries are seeing the pressure that a new wave of Covid-19 is placing on their hospitals once more, and they’re reintroducing measures to try and slow down the spread of infections. Host Nuala McGovern brings together people working in the healthcare sector to think about the pressures on people’s mental health after almost two years of caring for those who are sick or dying due to the pandemic. Nuala talks with hospital workers in the Dominican Republic, the United States and South Africa. For some it’s constant stress, anxiety and burnout. For others, it’s led to even more serious outcomes including post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. In South Africa, the new Omicron coronavirus variant is responsible for a sharp increase of Covid cases in the country. Two doctors share how it is affecting their hospitals in Odi, Pretoria, and Soweto in Johannesburg. (Photo: Medical workers wearing protective suits attend to a COVID-19 patient, in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Jesenice Hospital, amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, in Jesenice, Slovenia, December 8, 2021. Credit: Borut Zivulovic/Reuters)