Frontline Health Care Workers Face Equipment Shortages
TIME politics and policy reporter Abby Vesoulis spoke to more than a dozen health care workers battling COVID-19 all over the country, and to sum up, they’re very stressed. “Our job is blood, sweat and tears,” says one nurse in Los Angeles County. “I’m mentally and physically exhausted,” says another in Pittsburgh. Compounding their stress is the national shortage of personal protective equipment.
Vesoulis began reporting this story after noticing health care workers sharing photos of themselves on social media, exemplifying what it looks like to reuse or wear protective gear for hours so as not to burn through supply. Some had red lines indenting their faces, caused by masks they had to wear for hours on end, Vesoulis noticed. One emergency physician in Tennessee later told Vesoulis that hospital administrators have asked health care workers to wear the same N-95 mask for 24 hours, “And if it doesn’t get contaminated, I was supposed to reuse it the next day,” the physician said. (One article in the American Journal of Infection Control recommends N-95 respirators be put on only five times before they lose their full effectiveness.) Some hospitals have also started to lock up their equipment to prevent theft, and others have encouraged their employees to purchase their own gear.
To get a sense of what health care workers in the U.S. can expect, Vesoulis and TIME senior producer Francesca Trianni talked to their peers in Italy, “people who have already weathered the storm,” Vesoulis says. Roberto Tonelli, a 31-year-old pulmonologist in Modena, Italy, had this to say: “What I’d like to tell my American colleagues,” he says, “is be prepared for the amount of deaths you will see.”
In Washington, D.C., the Senate and White House agreed this morning on a $2 trillion emergency bill, the largest in history according to the Associated Press. The stimulus will go towards aiding businesses, workers and the health care system. It includes direct payments to most Americans and will expand unemployment benefits. It also includes a $367 billion program intended for small businesses to pay their employees who have to stay home. The Senate convened at noon today to resume consideration of the bill, which is expected to pass later today, according to the AP.
In New York, which now has far more confirmed cases than anywhere else in the country, New York University has decided to allow its med students to graduate early in order to add more health care workers to the overwhelmed system in New York City.
And in California, a person under the age of 18 who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 died on Tuesday. The patient might be the first adolescent to die from the coronavirus in the U.S., though the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health says the case is complex, and the cause of death will need to be further evaluated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Global Situation
In the U.K., Prince Charles announced today that he has tested positive for COVID-19. The heir to the throne is showing mild symptoms of the virus, according to the prince’s office. He is currently in self-isolation and his wife has tested negative. According to Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II has not had contact with Prince Charles since March 12 and is in good health.
Meanwhile, public hospital doctors in Zimbabwe have gone on strike over a lack of personal protective equipment, the latest blow to a health care system that already asks the families of patients to provide basic supplies, the Associated Press reports.
All numbers are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of March 24, 8 PM eastern time. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
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Track-and-field Olympian Allyson Felix writes for TIME about the International Olympic Committee’s decision to postpone the 2020 games until 2021 because of the pandemic. “This has been a sobering reminder that we are not owed our dreams,” she says. Read more here.
A History of the Defense Production Act and Mobilizing Business During Crisis
Trump announced on March 18 that he had invoked the Defense Production Act, which allows the President to force American businesses to help out in times of crisis. TIME history reporter Olivia B. Waxman offers up a history of the act and its uses. Read more here.
Beloved Brooklyn Principal Dies from Coronavirus at 36
Dez-Ann Romain, a widely loved teacher who most recently worked as the principal of Brooklyn Democracy Academy, this week became one of New York City’s youngest COVID-19 fatalities, dying at just 36 years old. Read more here.
What Does COVID-19 Mean for Refugees?
As countries around the world close borders and turn inward to slow the spread of coronavirus, refugees are left wondering where they can call home. Read more here.
A Plea on Behalf of Doctors
In an emotional open letter, Shahar Ziv, whose wife is an internal medicine physician in New York, pleads with Americans and their elected officials to help keep doctors safe. “My wife has the power to save lives during this crisis,” he writes. “I just wish the federal government cared a little bit more about hers.” Read more here.
Small Manufacturers Step Up
TIME national correspondent Charlotte Alter looks at the small businesses around the world who are taking on the responsibility of desperately needed medical supplies and donating them to the health care system. Read more here.
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