A doctor puts on protective goggles before entering the isolation ward at a hospital, in Wuhan, January 30

(Photo : China Daily via REUTERS)


With the rampant increase in cases of coronavirus, medical workers are placing themselves at greater risk as proper medical gear slowly dwindles.

A hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota is planning to shut its doors due to a limited supply of face masks. CEO Dr. Ritesh Patel said at least one other west metro health center was considering stopping services as protective gears slowly vanish.

Experts say the shortage of face masks are making healthcare workers vulnerable to the coronavirus.

The hoarding of the protective gear has left many workers at risk of contracting COVID-19, without much-added benefit to the general population who uses the masks.

Doctors at Barnes Jewish Hospital were forced to use loose-fitting surgical masks rather than the recommended tight respirator masks.

Healthcare workers at a Los Angeles emergency room worked with expired masks. Some experienced troubles when the elastic bands snapped upon putting them on.

Medical workers across the nation are also confronting a shortage of surgical gowns and eye masks as COVID-19 cases are soaring.  

Doctors and nurses who fight at the frontlines are now anxious as they put themselves at risk of exposure which could unknowingly be transmitted to their families.


An anesthesiologist in Kentucky said he had to intubate several ill patients without wearing a respirator mask and protective eye gear due to a massive shortage.

Some hospitals are rationing supplies in hopes new shipments would come in soon. However, they were not given an estimate of when protective gear might become available.

N95 vs Surgical Masks

N95 masks are a tight-fitting mask that filters out more than 95% of all airborne particles including aerosols.

Surgical masks were designed to keep out only large-particle droplets and other bodily or hazardous fluids.

N95 masks are recommended to be used only by people with infectious respiratory illness and healthcare workers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Keep up with the latest COVID-19 news:

President Donald Trump said millions of masks were currently in production during a briefing on Thursday. He also said the federal government is taking steps to address the issue. He did not specify what actions were being done.

He also said the Defense Production Act, a law that authorizes manufacturers to ramp up production of equipment, was not yet needed.

The CDC opted to loosen guidelines for personal protective equipment in light of the national shortage. The new guidelines now encourage healthcare workers to use standard surgical masks.

Various nursing groups, including the Minnesota Nurses Association, have voiced concern over the new guidelines. The association president Mary Turner said optimal measures are needed to keep hospitals running as sick nurses would only lead to staff shortage.

Many doctors across the nation said they were only being given one respirator masks which they spray down with Lysol before reusing. Federal health officials recommend the masks should be should for only eight hours and discarded after.

"I'm terrified," a doctor at a Saint Louis hospital said. "We are at war with no ammo. It's only a matter of time before I'm infected with the illness."