Although grand celebrations were missing in Pakistan on Tuesday to commemorate International Nurses Day, people have been acknowledging the role of nurses who have gone beyond their call of duty to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Many nurses who had tested positive and were quarantined have returned to work to handle patients soon after recovering from the respiratory disease.

Wearing a protective suit, a face mask, goggles, and gloves, 35-year-old Sabra Parveen is tending to patients at the neurology ward of Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital in Karachi.

Holding a chart and wheeling around a device for checking blood pressure, she is walking from one bed to another.

Nothing about her busy schedule gives away the fact that she has rejoined the hospital a couple of days ago after recovering from the coronavirus.

Parveen had tested positive in the second week of April and went into self-isolation at home until she recovered.

"It was like a nightmare. I just kept thinking what would happen if I would test positive again? What would happen to my kids?" Parveen, a mother of three, told Anadolu Agency.

She had asked her sister to take care of her kids while she recovered as her husband was out of town.

"I was alone at home for 14 days. My brother would bring me food and drop it off at my doorstep. I could not even see him," she recalled.

But the resilient nurse recovered and returned to work to look after her patients.

Amirullah, 34, also resumed his duties last week after recovering from the virus.

The father of two, who had been assigned to a special ward for coronavirus, had tested positive for the disease on March 30. The nurse remained in self-isolation for over a month at his home that was under construction.

"My family had already moved to my brother's house due to the construction work. So my home served as a quarantine centre for me," he said.

Nurses at risk

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already declared 2020 to be the “Year of the Nurse and Midwife” in celebration of the 200th birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

Thousands of nurses are at the forefront of Pakistan’s battle against the outbreak which has already infected more than 32,000 and killed over 700 people.

More than 440 healthcare workers across the country, including 70 nurses, have tested positive for Covid-19, and eight have died, according to the latest data from authorities.

The sharp rise in new cases among healthcare workers comes amid ongoing protests by the medical community over a lack of personal protective equipment and the government’s decision to ease lockdown restrictions.

"Initially, let me admit — I was very scared about myself and my kids. But that anxiety eased when I started feeling better," said Parveen.

"And now I am not at all scared as the worst is already over," she said. "That's why I have returned to work."

Amirullah, however, said he never lost his confidence.

"I had already seen too much during my time at the coronavirus ward. I knew how to handle this disease.

"I am fully ready to resume my duties at the same ward," he said with a smile.