Nurses demand COVID-19 protective gear at White House

WASHINGTON

Health workers organized by a national nurses advocacy group took to the White House on Tuesday to protest a shortage of protective gear they say has put them at risk for contracting the novel coronavirus.

The group of about a dozen nurses organized by National Nurses United stood vigil outside the White House, holding signs displaying the names and images of colleagues who have died after caring for patients suffering from COVID-19.

They stood six feet apart in line with social distancing protocols, and wore masks or face coverings in line with federal government guidelines.

Many nurses and other health care workers have fallen ill, and some have died, after caring for patients who have tested positive for the virus.

Health care workers have issued repeated public appeals urging residents to stay home in an effort to prevent the virus' spread, warning many facilities where they work do not have sufficient Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, to protect them and patients.

The group, who congregated in Lafayette Park across from the White House, read aloud the names of about 50 nurses who have died after contracting the virus in the line of duty.

"Right now the CDC is telling hospitals that it is recommended that they only provide us with bandanas, scarves or surgical masks," Erica Jones, a nurse at Medstar Washington Medical Center in the nation's capital, told reporters, emphasizing that guidelines are insufficient.

She was referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which Jones said has "consistently weakened" its guidelines.

"We need President Trump to immediately and fully invoke the Defense Production Act to respirators, face shields, cover-alls, gowns," she said.

Trump has activated the Korean War-era act, but only enacted it to compel private firms to produce ventilators, which are needed for patients who becomes severely ill with COVID-19. After being put on the machine that helps a patient breathe, however, many patients do not recover.

Trump also said Sunday he will invoke the act to fund a Maine lab's development of swabs necessary for testing kits, but it is unclear if he has yet done so.

The U.S. remains the country hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with a tally from Johns Hopkins University counting 788,920 positive cases and 42,458 deaths. More than 73,500 people have recovered.