By Eleanor Laise Order Reprints Text size
Sarah Tongson (R), director of social services, gives Douglas Smith some hand santizer during a family visit at the Life Care Center of Kirkland on Aug. 24, 2020 in Kirkland, Washington. According to a report by the CDC, at least 37 coronavirus deaths were linked to this facility. Getty Images
Sherry Perry has seen all the horrors of the pandemic. As a certified nursing assistant at a long-term care facility in Lebanon, Tenn., she has held a phone up to a window so a daughter could say goodbye to her dying father. She has watched residents die alone, not understanding why their families didn’t visit them in their final days. Earlier this month, she herself got Covid, suffering fever and chills, and passing out as she struggled to breathe.