Pinoy couple in New Jersey on facing COVID-19 as doctors: 'It was a mixture of fear, stress, and anxiety'

A Filipino couple who are both doctors in New Jersey described how they take care of their family amid the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

According to Corinne Catibayan's report for "24 Oras," Dr. Patrick Alcasid and his wife, Dr. Ninfa, started doing everything separately when the pandemic hit the United States.

Because they have a high-risk of getting exposed to the  virus at work, they even go to the hospital in different cars to prevent infecting each other.

"It was tough on us I think on a lot of levels. It's nothing you ever experienced before," said Patrick, a pulmonologist. "It was a mixture of fear, stress, and anxiety."

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They take a bath right after going home and regularly disinfect common hand-held items such as phones, wallets, and keys.

But Ninfa and their 13-year-old son, Ethan, suddenly showed flu-like symptoms despite all of their efforts to be careful.

Mother and child went to get tested for COVID-19 on March 22 and received their result four days later: they were positive for the virus.

"My son would have never gotten it from anyone else, exposure is  really just through us," said Ninfa, an internal medicine specialist.

She had to take care of herself and her son, but they both eventually recovered from the disease. She went back to work on April 6.

Patrick, who work mainly in the intensive care unit, said their family survived the ordeal thanks to the support from their colleagues at the hospital.

"They talk about us being the frontliners. But there's a frontline to us as well," he said. "There was a feeling of pride going to the hospital and seeing the camaraderie with the other staff and the nurses. That helped us cope."

As of Sunday, the United States has over 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 62,000 people have died.

"I would hope that having a common enemy or common goal which is fighting this virus would finally be something that will bring the world together," Patrick said. —MGP, GMA News