Doctors describe life at a New York hospital hit hard by coronavirus: 'It's apocalyptic'

People wait for coronavirus tests at Elmhurst Hospital.
(Image credit: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

The Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, New York, is at the center of the coronavirus crisis.

As of Wednesday evening, there are 20,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in New York City, with more than 3,922 patients hospitalized. Of those cases, 30 percent have been reported in Queens. At the 545-bed Elmhurst Hospital, which mostly serves low-income patients who do not have primary care doctors, almost everyone who has been admitted recently has coronavirus. Over the last 24 hours, 13 people have died at the hospital of COVID-19, New York City's public hospital system said in a statement.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.