In the province of Brecia, the center of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, a 73-year-old doctor named Gino Fasoli came out of retirement to help treat patients amid the growing crisis.

On March 6, he told his brother that he was feeling unwell, with a headache and fever. By March 10, his condition had worsened. I cant speak, Fasoli said. Soon, he was transferred to the hospital, where he tested positive for COVID-19. Doctors were unable to save him.

At 8 oclock on the 14th they called me from the hospital to tell me he was dead, his brother said.

On Tuesday, Italys federation of doctors announced that 24 doctors have died so far from the coronavirus. According to Italys national health institute, 4,824 health care workers have been infected, twice as many as in China.

In Spain, the health ministry announced this week that out of 40,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country, 5,400 nearly 14% are medical professionals. In France, five doctors have died from the virus as well.

We are at the end of our strength, said Dr. Romano Paolucci, who came out of retirement to help the Oglio Po hospital near Cremona, one of the worst-hit towns in northern Italys Lombardy region. We do not have sufficient resources and especially staff, because apart from everything else, now the staff are beginning to get sick.

As the number of coronavirus cases grows across Europe and the United States, health care workers on the front lines say they feel like they are being treated like cannon fodder, as the head of a British professional group put it.

Im risking my life and the life of my family, said Joan Pons Laplana, a nurse who works for the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Im going to work, because I love helping other people. But I want the government to equip me properly it feels like theyre sending soldiers to fight with water pistols. Its unbelievable.