I'm an NHS consultant anaesthetist. I see the terror in my Covid patients' eyes

As a hospital consultant working in intensive care, the reality of coronavirus and patients' fear is brought home to me every day

I'm not ready," the patient implores me through her CPAP [continuous positive airway pressure] hood. She's breathing at more than triple her normal rate and I've been asked to intubate her as she's deteriorating, despite three days in intensive care. She is 42 years old.

There's terror in her eyes. A tear runs down her cheek. She's looking at the patient opposite who is in an induced coma, intubated and ventilated, and isn't doing well.