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 The 33-year-old nurse, whose second child is due on Friday, said she
had worked through her first pregnancy with ease in San Antonio,
Texas. But news that COVID-19 patients were checking into her
intensive care unit in April prompted her to make some changes.
"I called in to say I'm not coming," Salinas said. "It's distressing
being pregnant. You always think who's sick around you. What worries
me is there's so much unknown. So many people can be carriers and
asymptomatic. That's a huge blind spot."
The hospital reassigned her to a part-time job in another building
doing patient follow-ups by phone. The fewer work hours reduced her
income, but safety was her priority.
"The vertical transmission was what I was afraid of, not so much my
getting sick, but the baby getting sick," Salinas said.
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Salinas wants to continue working as late as possible into her pregnancy so she
can spend more of the time off she is entitled to with her newborn.
She loves caring for patients, but is also grateful for the extra time at home
with her husband Tim, 35, a math teacher and football coach, and their
one-year-old daughter Macie.
"As frustrating as it was to be a nurse, now that I'm not at the bedside I'm
feeling a bit guilty. I'm working in an office," she said.
"My husband gets a little stir crazy, and the baby wants to go places. But
there's nothing more important than protecting us."
(Writing by Richard Chang, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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