‘Heart-wrenching’: inside a hospital grappling with Delta and vaccine hesitancy

As the variant tears its way through the US and vaccination rates plateau in the state, hospitals are experiencing a new wave of cases

Nurse Matt Robinson braced himself before pushing the heavy doors to the recently reopened Covid-19 ward at Methodist University hospital in downtown Memphis, Tennessee.

This hadn't been in the script. After over a year of continuous work with Covid-19 patients throughout the pandemic, the burnout brought on by constant exposure to death and trauma, Robinson had hoped his job might return to normal.