Portraits of courage: The faces on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic in Miami

They show up every day, at all hours, armed with an expertise in health and in care.

They wear scrubs, and their faces, hands and hairlines are covered with protective gear as they make their rounds treating COVID-19 patients battling a pandemic like none other in recent history.

Too often, they are the only source of comfort for those who have fallen victim to the novel coronavirus at hospitals across South Florida — away from loved ones, but not alone.

A medical war is under way to beat COVID-19. These are just some of the healthcare warriors who are part of a much larger contingency on the front lines. In order to capture these images, Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald photojournalists visited six different hospitals that agreed to let us in and set up a background and lights. Then they waited until the end of the shift to document the moment.

While photographing at Broward Health, they learned about “Code Happy.” That’s the announcement that blares out over the intercom to announce that a patient who beat COVID-19 was going home. At Baptist Health, the theme song from the movie “Rocky” filtered through to announce another successful knockout.

The healthcare professionals featured in this collection of images represent countless others in the battle against this ongoing health crisis.

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 7:00 AM.