Brave NHS medics and staff are on the front line of the country's coronavirus battle.
But despite doing all they can to help save lives, they are faced with a shocking lack of equipment, almost non-existing testing and a shortage of staff.
Many are left feeling anxious about their own health as well as their family members.
Here, five NHS workers - including a senior hospital doctor, GPs and an intensive care nurse - have written about their daily battle against the killer virus.
In their own words, they've opened up about their difficulties in work, from a lack of staff to the emotional turmoil of watching victims die without the support of loved ones.
And they've also revealed how it's affecting them and their own families and friends.
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"The testing is a joke... we've got so many staff off but can't get them back without a negative test"
Surgical registrar in the North West
"We had a warning today that we were running out of scrubs because the entire hospital staff - including cooks and cleaners - are using them and they are threatening to make us wear patient’s pyjamas to work in.
"The other nightmare is none of the masks fit me properly.
"My friend in South Wales says they’ve been absolutely inundated at one hospital and they’re witnessing people dying every day.
"The testing is a joke.
"We’ve got so many staff off with sniffles or family members with the same. But we can’t get them back without negative tests.
"I had to fight to get a patient with a high fever swabbed because it was the last swab available in the hospital.
"It’s shocking actually."
"We're all tired and on edge... it's hard to shake the feeling the worst is yet to come"
A GP in Yorkshire
"Mostly we are trying to carry on business as usual, but there are moments when the gravity of the situation hits.
"Our patients are dying - maybe alone - and certainly without their family members close by and perhaps very afraid.
"This is overwhelmingly sad.
"We have adapted to new ways of working very quickly; initially with absolutely no guidance from NHS England or our local CCG (clinical commissioning group).
"Covid-19 has caused tensions among long-term colleagues in our practice and many others.
"We are all tired and on edge, our minds whirling with plans, contingencies and the emotions of each day long after we get home.
"This inevitably impacts our ability to be engaged with our children and partner, which leads to further anxiety and guilt.
"We are coping, we are a strong collective but it’s hard to shake the feeling that worst is definitely yet to come and we don’t really know the enormity of our next few weeks or months and how this will affect our mental health.
"The news of the death of each healthcare worker serves a poignant reminder that we are not invincible.
"We have nearly run out of PPE (personal protective equipment) and we cannot get another delivery for another three weeks.
"I feel extremely let down by the government and NHS England who tell me everyday on the news that there is enough PPE but I cannot see it in my consulting room."
"Watching someone die alone is something you never forget"
Intensive care nurse
"Everyone’s very conscious and afraid of catching it, it’s not just vulnerable people affected but everyday healthy young people.
"Watching someone die alone is something you never forget.
"Listening to relatives cry on the phone is harrowing.
"When you go home you can’t tell anyone what you’ve experienced and you wouldn’t want to scare people.
"Instead you shower, pick yourself up, smile and carry on with homeschooling."
"My partner is worried I will bring the virus home and pass it to her and my two-year-old daughter"
Medical imaging technician at a North West hospital
"We have about 50% of staff in work, with the rest either self-isolating or at home on standby to come into work if needed.
"A number of staff have had Covid-19 symptoms but nobody has been tested as we are not directly frontline staff.
"I'm happy that I’m still going to work so I can get out of the house each day, although my partner is worried I will bring the virus home and pass it to her and my two-year-old daughter.
"The department I work in, and the hospital as a whole, is eerily quiet at the moment.
"It’s like we’re all waiting for the surge to arrive and there is definite anxiety about when it will start and how bad its actually going to get."
He added: "I think a lot of people don’t realise the long term impact this will have on hospitals.
"Just in our hospital, hundreds of appointments a week are being cancelled so the waiting lists for tests, scans, operations etc will be huge after this and will take months/years to reduce again.
"PPE is becoming a problem even in our department as we are now all expected to wear a basic face mask, plastic apron and gloves when dealing with every patient.
"We have no idea when we will get any more supplies at the moment.
"Is it acceptable for us to refuse to deal with non-urgent patients if we have no PPE?
"I think we would be in our right but I don’t think the staff in the thick of it have the option with a patient laying in front of them fighting for their lives.
"I do worry about frontline staff’s mental health. I think we will see a lot of early retirements and resignations, especially from medical and nursing staff, because I don’t think anyone will want to go through anything like this again.
"Frontline staff are now putting their mental and physical health at risk to deal with this crisis and I’m not sure I would be prepared to do that or put my own family at risk."
"My partner is also a medic, lack of testing could put both of us out of action"
Northern-based GP
"I’ve often headed to work worried about what the day might bring.
"Practices and GPs within them have had to figure out how to manage with little central guidance and rapidly evolving information and have done this within differing time frames in different ways.
"The challenge is to continue providing the essential care that is required, while at the same time trying to limit the spread of the disease and protect patients and staff.
"I have in the back of my mind that working like this could leave us more open to making mistakes, but we have no choice.
"I have been concerned about my own health with the lack of clear consensus on what protection we should use when seeing patients face to face and worries about limited supplies.
"Fortunately things have improved and I've been seeing any patients in designated areas at specific times of day with basic PPE.
"There's still a lot of uncertainty how best to assess people with suspected coronavirus in primary care.
"111 is triaging calls but as GPs we have spoken to patients who have symptoms that could be due to coronavirus but may be due to other causes, and those where we can’t tell from remote consultation how unwell they are.
"These patients need face to face assessment.
"I don’t feel GP surgeries are currently set up to do this.
"There are ongoing concerns about stocks of PPE and if this is even adequate.
"We are buying our own and improvising, I have used a make shift visor to see a patient in the car park.
"Specific coronavirus clinics are planned in some areas in order to safely conduct these assessments but until they materialise or we get more equipment the situation is quite daunting.
"Staff in all areas of medicine need to be tested if they have symptoms.
"We can’t afford to have healthcare workers staying at home for 7-14 days when they are well enough to work and do not have coronavirus.
"In my situation, as my partner is also a medic, lack of testing could put both of us out of action unnecessarily."
Latest PPE guidance for NHS teams
Yesterday the UK Government and NHS leaders published new guidance for NHS teams likely to come into contact with Covid-19 patients.
And they said that in the past 2 weeks the NHS Supply Chain have delivered 397 million pieces of PPE equipment including masks and other PPE equipment to NHS trusts and 58,000 healthcare settings including GPs, pharmacies and community providers.
Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer said: "It’s vital our staff are safe and ensure they feel safe and confident that they are being properly protected, as they look after increasing numbers of people during this global health pandemic, which will put health services across the world under pressure.
"This new guidance should give each and every member of staff the confidence that they are wearing the right level of equipment to keep them safe as they care for our loved ones."