Doctors and nurses face abuse as UK coronavirus cases soar but social distancing wanes - CNN

But instead of the usual smiling face, or couple of waving children at the other end of the line, this time there were 45 relatives, all crammed into one room.

"On several occasions we have had to stop Zoom calls because there have been numerous relatives in the room not social distancing," said Gregson.

In the heavily-burdened ICU in Blackburn, northwestern England, where she works -- and where eight patients died over the past weekend alone -- abuse of the rules is not the only problem she and the other medical staff face.

For the staff at the Royal Blackburn Teaching hospital, where 59 patients have died of Covid-19 so far in October, the abuse just adds to the litany of trauma and exhaustion they must -- and do -- overcome.

In an ICU where a third of patients have died since Friday, locals breaking the government rules designed to combat the disease are just another form of insult.

Yet even this rule is broken.

"Some relatives have come in and then sworn that just those two relatives will stay," said Gregson.

"And to then have to have something else to deal with, it's really hard."

As the second wave of coronavirus rises in the UK, the pace of events in the ICU is relentless, Gregson said.