Texas Doctor Moves Into Kids' Treehouse

A south Texas emergency room physician has chosen a novel place to self-isolate as he's treating patients with the novel coronavirus. Jason Barnes made a temporary home of his children’s treehouse in the backyard of the family's Corpus Christi home. He is among many health care workers who are leaving their homes or taking other precautions to protect their families after being exposed to the virus, the AP reports. Barnes, a 39-year-old physician at Christus Spohn Hospital Beeville and Christus Spohn Hospital South in Corpus Christi, tells the Corpus Christi Caller-Times that he has spent nearly three weeks in the cabin treehouse.

Barnes says he often shouts down to his kids if he needs something—or sometimes walks up to the back picture window door of their home to make his request. "They're within yelling distance," Barnes says. "But I can call or go up to the glass. They know not to open the door and risk catching something." Of course, this self-isolation means his two sons, ages 6 and 9, lose their playhouse. "They love that thing, but they understand, so they're not missing the treehouse, per se," Barnes says. "They tell me they miss me once a day."