Ellen Pompeo has played a doctor on "Grey's Anatomy" for more than a decade, and on Friday, she sent her love to the real-life doctors and nurses working amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an Instagram post captioned "With Love and gratitude," Pompeo noted that those who work in the health care industry do not have "the privilege to self-quarantine and isolate," as many others do.
So, in what she dubbed "my nurses and doctors and all healthcare workers appreciation post," Pompeo gave a shoutout from "me and my family... to say thank you, we appreciate you."
"You all have to be on the front lines of this thing," she said. "Nurses rock. Doctors rock. And anyone who works in a hospital or the healthcare industry, you rock. We love you. Stay safe."
There are currently more than 144,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally and more than 1,900 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University. On Friday, President Donald Trump declared a "national emergency," which he said would allow him to quickly get $50 billion to states, territories and localities "in our shared fight against this disease."
"Declaring a national emergency does two things: It coveys to the public that the nation faces a serious crisis and that drastic action is necessary and it will immediately make available resources and other support that can be directed to protect communities across the nation," former Homeland Security Undersecretary John Cohen, now an ABC News contributor, said.
