'He is at peace:' Nurses offer condolences to family with signs in hospital window after man dies of COVID-19

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A New Hampshire family is grateful to the nurses who took care of their father when he died of COVID-19 in the hospital.

The Johnson family told ABC-affiliate WMUR that they gathered every day outside Catholic Medical Center, where their father had a room with a window.

Sunday, two nurses posted signs in their father's window: "He is at peace." "We are so sorry."

One of the siblings took a photo of the nurses--one with her hand on the window and the other making a heart with her hands.

"I just really want this to be about the nurses," Kevin Johnson said. "They just went beyond."

Sibling Angela Daneault said her family had been planning picnics and holding vigils in the park outside the hospital for days. Hospital staff told WMUR that the family brightened their spirits, and every day they would go to the window to wave at them.

The nurses that took care of the Johnsons' father said they told him he was loved.

"We told him, as we tell all our patients, that they are loved," ICU nurse Kaitlyn Kerrigan said. "We are here for them. We hold their hands and tell them--everything they tell us to tell them, we tell our patients."

The Johnsons told WMUR they plan to keep their vigils going for other patients in the hospital.

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"There's people in there that really need somebody," Kevin Johnson said. "I'm going to make signs. We're going to give the food. They're going to see balloons."

Hospital staff said the best thing the public could do for them was to wear masks or face coverings in public.