Kevin Curipan is a construction worker in New York City.
This week Curipan has been working 12-hour shifts building mobile hospitals for people infected with COVID-19 in Staten Island. It’s hard work, but much easier than what he was doing just a few days ago.
A couple of weeks ago, he received a text message looking for people to participate in COVID-19 related projects. He signed up for it, but before knowing he was going to help build the interior of trucks intended to carry the corpses of COVID-19 victims.
“We were about two blocks from Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, and we could see ambulances going in and out all night long,” said Curipan.
The atmosphere was so intense, that workers were told to remove anyone trying to record what was going on.
“The authorities told us that as soon as we saw someone trying to take a picture, we had to kick them out,” he said.
His team had to undergo safety classes before every shift, and they were given letters certifying them as essential workers in case they were stopped by the police.
But his biggest worry was getting to and from the job site.
“I had to take the train from Elmont to Manhattan, and you could see the homeless people coughing all over the place,” said Curipan. “Just by getting on the subway to go to the construction area meant you were already putting your life at risk.”
