Staff at a medical centre in New Jersey were overwhelmed with emotion when a mystery man made a kind gesture to show how grateful he was for their efforts to save his wife.

The unidentified man stood outside the ER of Morristown Medical Center holding up a sign that read ‘Thank you all in emergency for saving my wife’s life. I love you all.’

In a photograph the man can be seen pressing the sign to the window, showing his gratitude while observing social distancing measures put in place by the governor to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus.

“We don’t know who the man is, we don’t know who his wife is. The nurses happened to be there and took his picture. What’s beautiful is, that’s all we know,” Karen Zatorski, Senior public relations manager at Morristown Medical Center told The Daily Record.

The photo that one of the nurse, Allison Swendsen, took of the thoughtful gesture has gone viral after Shay Vander Vliet, the sister in law of one of the nurses at the hospital posted it on her Facebook page.

“My sister-in-law, Paige Van Der Vliet, is a nurse in the emergency department at Morristown Medical Center,” she wrote. “She sent me this picture the other day and I feel like it needs to be seen as much as possible!’

“And thank you, Paige, and ALL of the nurses and doctors, for your hard work and dedication, especially during this scary time.”

The man in the photo has not been identified, nor is it confirmed whether his wife has been hospitalised for coronavirus or some other ailment.

​”This picture brought us all to tears. It’s amazing to see not only the ER staff but all the floors coming together during this challenging time. We couldn’t do this without nurses, techs, residents, doctors, secretaries, registrars, housekeeping,” Paige Vander Vliet told The Daily Record

Medical workers across the country and the world have been working long hours in the fight against the virus, which now has over 500,000 confirmed cases worldwide as of Friday, according to The World Health Organisation.

New Jersey reported more than 6,800 cases of Covid-19 in the state as of Thursday, according to The Hill.