Hospital cleaner originally from Peru on front lines of fight against COVID-19
"This is the moment that New York needs…for us to give a helping hand,” she says. “We all need to do our part, so we can make it through this."
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Apr 8, 2020, 9:50 PM
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Updated 1,717 days ago
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Immigrants are playing a role in helping New York respond to the coronavirus pandemic, including a Mamaroneck woman who is now on the front lines.
Gina Rejas, who immigrated from Peru nearly 20 years ago, is a cleaner at White Plains Hospital. She suits up in personal protective equipment to ensure a section of the hospital stays clean for health care workers and patients. She has been working there for the past five years.
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MORE: LIVE BLOG - Coronavirus updates from the tri-state area and beyond
"This is the moment that New York needs…for us to give a helping hand,” she says. “We all need to do our part, so we can make it through this."
Rejas says New York has given her family the American dream, and feels it is now her moral obligation to continue to do her job.
A tweet from her son-in-law, a White House correspondent for Yahoo News, was shared widely last week.
She admits she does fear catching the virus but is inspired by the nurses at the hospital who continue to show up every day.
"These women are heroes,” she said.
Rejas is asking the public to stay home during the pandemic to lessen the load at local hospitals.
PHOTOS: Heroes on the front lines work through the COVID-19 outbreak
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