Every night when the clock hits 8 o’clock, millions of people across France will pour onto the balcony to knock pots, beat drums, play the trumpet at the highest volume possible.

This nightly "ritual" was performed to cheer up the medical staff in the context of the French people obeying the blockade and staying in the house for nearly 3 weeks.

However, when witnessing hundreds of deaths every day, the endurance of the medical team, the heroes praised in the battle against the Covid-19 epidemic, was significantly challenged.

France on March 30 recorded the highest number of Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak began in the country. 418 deaths in 24 hours at hospitals have increased the number of deaths in France to 3,024 . Up to now, 44,450 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in France.

“When I woke up this morning, I cried. I cry when having breakfast. I cried when I was ready to work, ”Elise Cordier, a nurse, acknowledged on Facebook in an article revealing the fears and suffering of health workers working on the front lines against epidemics in France.

However, Elise said that right after entering the hospital’s changing room, she wiped her tears away.

“Those who are lying in bed are also crying. And I’m here to wipe their tears, ”Elise said.

"Our team is worried about the instability that awaits us this week and for the whole of April," said Professor Elie Azoulay, head of the intensive care unit at a hospital in Paris, which operates. 3 times the capacity with 50 new, shared beds.

"They are afraid of themselves and their loved ones, afraid of failing to overcome, afraid of being overwhelmed," Professor Azoulay said, and understood that nurses and doctors in some other places even had di‌e.

A nurse holds a Covid-19 sample in Paris. (Photo: AFP)

Not only do health workers face the death and pain of patients who are breathing hard when corona virus wreaks havoc on their lungs, but also face fears that they may infected by the virus and spread to the whole family.

“They talk about a wave, a tsunami, which means we will be submerged. The fear here is, we will have to tell the patients on the stretcher: Sorry, we have no beds, ”said Benjamin Davido, director of the medical crisis at Raymond-Poincare Hospital in the west. Paris, said.

The fear of French medical workers has been compounded by the shortage of masks and protective equipment in hospitals. The anger culminated after the death of a French doctor 10 days ago. He was the first French doctor to di‌e from Covid-19 after participating in a campaign to cope with the disease.

If previously, the psychologists at the hospitals were responsible for caring for patients, now they have to turn their concerns to their colleagues.

At Clermont-Ferrand, psychiatrist Julie Geneste said that in addition to the fear of "not being able to cope" with the disease, most of the medical staff’s call to the center involved relieving anxiety. from relatives and friends, as well as the fear of infecting them.

"These are new things our generation has never known at this level," Geneste said.

“We are not yet ready for this. We all suffer ... Some of my colleagues were sho‌cked, "Geneste said.

Psychologist Nicolas Dupuis said he witnessed up to 200 calls a day to the counseling center where he works to support the medical staff. Dupuis said health workers are trapped between family and their patients on the one hand.

What worries health workers most is the fear of their own children. A health worker told Dupuis, "My 7-year-old daughter told me," Mom, if you’re sick, you don’t come home ".