New York nurse sends her kids away for a month so she can fight coronavirus

A New York mother has made the heartbreaking sacrifice to send her two young children to live with their grandparents to avoid any of them becoming sick while she works on the front line of the coronavirus crisis. 

Jessica Chan told Good Morning America on Tuesday that she and her husband Nicholas Liu made the decision to not only keep their two young daughters, Jessica and Izzy, safe but to also protect his elderly parents. 

She is preparing for an onslaught of work, with thousands expected to soon descend on the nation’s hospitals in dire need of care. 

 

Nurse Jessica Chan kisses her oldest daughter, Jessica, goodbye before dropping her off at her grandparents for a month so that she can fight coronavirus in hospitals 

‘We were very afraid for their health and safety because I am a nurse and I will be exposed to a lot of patients. 

‘I could not risk getting them sick also because they will interact with their grandparents,’ she said. 

She shared a photograph of herself kissing Jessica, her oldest daughter, goodbye before dropping them off. 

Her husband, who works as a research analyst at Oxford University Press, added: ‘It’s kind of a hard scenario to anticipate’. 

He first shared the photograph on Facebook. 

‘We just sent my kids away to stay with my parents for a month. Juliette cried. 

‘With Jessica close to the front line, we cannot risk spread,’ he said alongside the picture. 

There are now more than 4,000 cases of coronavirus in the US and 93 people have died. 

Cities are preparing to go into lockdown, including New York City where bars, restaurants, movie theaters, casinos and gyms are closed. 

Chan said she was worried about only getting the girls sick but could not risk them passing it on to their grandparents

Chan said she was worried about only getting the girls sick but could not risk them passing it on to their grandparents

Chan said she was worried about only getting the girls sick but could not risk them passing it on to their grandparents

Jessica Chan told Good Morning America on Tuesday that she and her husband Nicholas Liu made the decision to not only keep their two young daughters, Jessica and Izzy, safe but to also protect his elderly parents

Jessica Chan told Good Morning America on Tuesday that she and her husband Nicholas Liu made the decision to not only keep their two young daughters, Jessica and Izzy, safe but to also protect his elderly parents

On Tuesday morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he was not ruling out a ‘shelter in place’ order to keep people in their homes.

The governor of New Jersey has implemented an 8pm curfew to keep people inside, San Francisco has issued a lockdown and residents in the Bay Area are being told to shelter in place too. 

Trump said on Monday he was not considering a national shut down but said he issued guidelines that he wants people to follow for 15 days. 

They include staying at home and avoiding food courts, bars and restaurants.

The New York shut-down had been planned for Tuesday morning at 9am.

Cuomo sped it up on Monday, saying the tri-state decided to take matters into their own hands after a lack of action from the White House. 

New York City's bars and restaurants closed on Monday night aside from take-out and delivery orders

New York City’s bars and restaurants closed on Monday night aside from take-out and delivery orders

He earlier pleaded with President Trump to order shut downs across the country, saying the ‘patchwork quilt’ approach of seeing some states taking more vigilant action than others ‘is not working’. 

There are more than 4,000 cases of coronavirus in the US and 74 people have died. 

After Cuomo’s announcement, shift workers in bars and restaurants panicked and started asking how they would be able to pay their rent. 

In Maryland, the city-wide shutdown will be in effect from 5pm Monday night. It applies to restaurants, bars, gyms and movie theaters. 

There has been no firm answer yet on how to alleviate the financial burden of the crisis on individuals.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow told DailyMail.com Monday said the administration ‘might’ get behind new proposals to give cash to American households in the neighborhood of $1,000 each per month. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk