Holly MatkinChicago, IL – A part-time Chicago nurse claimed that she had to quit her job to protect herself and her family members because the COVID-19 intensive care unit where she was working was not providing nurses with face masks (video below).
In a now-viral video, the nurse, identified as part-time Instagram “influencer” Imaris Vera, bawled about her alleged experience and declared that “America is not prepared” to combat the global pandemic.
The video went viral after it was picked up by CBS News.
“I quit my job today,” Vera sobbed in the video. “I went to work and I was assigned to a COVID patient on an ICU unit that has been converted to a designated COVID unit.”
“None of the nurses were wearing masks – not even surgical masks in the hallways when they’re giving a report to each other,” she continued.
Vera said she had brought her own N95 mask to work that day.
“I told my manager, ‘I understand we’re short on supplies, but let me protect myself! Let me feel safe!’” she bawled. “I have family that I have to come home to, and the way things are looking, this isn’t gonna get any better.”
Vera then accused the nation of failing to protect nurses and being poorly prepared to handle the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“America is not prepared,” she declared. “And nurses are not being protected.”
CBS shared the video, which has now been viewed over 8 million times, and Vera soon gained the support of Bernie Sanders.
“It is insane that our nurses are being forced to care for the sick without masks and respirators,” Sanders tweeted. “The Department of Labor must immediately issue emergency workplace standards to protect our health workers, their families, and their patients.”
But critics quickly began accusing the network of neglecting to fact-check Vera’s claims before backing her claims.
That’s when Vera’s story began to fall apart.
Other hospital workers pointed out that it is standard practice to wear masks inside patient rooms, but that they are to be removed in the hallways and nursing stations.
According to several of Vera’s other social media posts, she had been on the job for just four days when she quit, and said that she was “triggered” by information about COVID-19, PJ Media reported.
She also mentioned that she suffers from bi-polar depression and anxiety.
CBS tweeted two updates on Monday in the midst of the online backlash.
In one post, the media outlet said that Vera now admits that she and other nurses “were each assigned 1 N95 per 1 covid patient’s room,” but that they were not allowed to wear them outside of the rooms.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital confirmed that Vera had quit her job, but would not provide further details, CBS News reported in the second update.
You can watch the now-viral footage in the video below: