Evija Zandberga works as a nurse’s assistant in the department of Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, which treats Covid-19 patients. We meet on the day when everyone was shocked by the news: 64 people died of Covid-19 in Latvia the previous day. Evija has packed four of them for transport to the morgue.
With the photographer Kārlis Dambrāns, we are waiting for Evija at the gate of Stradiņš Hospital and everyone seems to be wondering – what could be the person who has just met death? Several times.
Emergency vehicles enter the hospital gate from time to time with sirens sounding.
Evija comes a little tired, but smiling and full of energy. Tempering. This is the second year of the pandemic, when she is working in “fighters”. This year, the reality is very harsh. The dead have become commonplace. You drive from the department to the morgue several times a day and, in fact, there is no more room in the morgue. Evija remembers that in the worst days of the pandemic last year, the ward where the patient died could be ventilated and left alone for a while. This year is different. Each vacancy is filled almost immediately.
Some of Evia’s colleagues also come to watch the photo shoot of the interview. Who can imagine that a person who spends a day in a medical protective suit feels just as comfortable standing on his fingertips in a ballet skirt and poinsettia?
–
