Calm waters -- Exposure -- Incubation -- Symptoms -- Escalation -- Complications -- Critical -- Recovery -- Epilogue: Immunity

On the 8th of February, Dr Dominic Pimenta encountered his first suspected case of coronavirus. Within a week, he began wearing a mask on the tube, and within a month, he was moved over to the Intensive Care Unit to help fight the virus. Duty of Care is the first book to tell the full story of the Covid-19 pandemic from someone on the frontline, working in one of the NHS's hardest hit areas. From the initial whispers coming out of China and the collective hesitation to class this as a pandemic to full lockdown and the continued battle to treat whoever came through the doors, Dr Pimenta tells the heroic stories of how the entire system shifted to tackle this outbreak and how, ultimately, the staff managed to save lives. This incredible account captures the shock and surprise, the panic and power of an unprecedented time, and how, at this time of crisis and despair, he saw human generosity and kindness prevail. Note: in order to preserve the absolute confidentiality of the patients in this book, certain details, names and places have been changed or merged where necessary