Health care workers are speaking up about their experiences during the pandemic and how they continue to work even as their own mental and physical well-being, as well as that of their patients, is at stake.

Turkish Nurses Share 'Battle Scars'

Turkish nurses Seher Altuncu and Gülhan Aksu Akarsu posted photos on social media - revealing the plight of health care workers on the front lines against COVID-19.

Concerned citizens praised their work and said they were grateful for the nurses' efforts in helping contain the novel coronavirus where they work.

However, there is more to the deep, red marks on the faces of the two nurses who work alongside other front liners. Their photos tell of long work shifts in hospitals and being exposed to the virus.

"I shared that photo so people can see what health care workers had to endure," Altuncu, a staff member at the intensive care unit of Kanuni Training and Research in Trabzon, Turkey, said.

Intern Shares Difficulties In India's COVID-19 Crisis

In India, where more than 6 million people have been infected, Dr. Sriram Sunil, a first year intern, shared the struggles of younger doctors like himself.

As is the case at many hospitals around the world, most of the workload falls on the shoulders of younger doctors.

To prevent contracting the virus, Sunil, who works at a hospital in Bangalore, said he usually layers scrubs because some of the personal protective equipment isn't recommended against a virus.

For a week, Sunil gets to work for six-hour shifts with breaks in between and the next week, he undergoes quarantine. The cycle is common among younger doctors in the second hardest-hit country in the world.

Son Of Doctor Who Died Of COVID-19 Tells Heart-Breaking Tale

Irem Tascioglu, whose father, Cemil, died from the virus, said the hardest part of his father's death was not being able to see him during the last days of his life.

"They don't let you into the room. You couldn't even get near," Tascioglu said of the days leading up to his doctor father's death.

Cemil was 68 when he died. He contracted the disease after treating Turkey's first confirmed coronavirus patient.

Like many older people who died from the virus, Cemil's last two weeks were spent intubated. Cemil was hospitalized at the Istanbul hospital where he worked for many years before the pandemic.

Cemil is one of the thousands of health care providers who have contracted COVID-19 while treating infected patients. And Irem is just one hundreds of thousands unable to say their goodbyes.