... In face masks or bandanas, positioned the CDC-recommended six feet apart, National Nurses United, the largest union of registered nurses in the country, stood in protest outside the White House on Tuesday, to read the names and honor the so-far-known 48 nurses dead of COVID-19, and to demand mass production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for all healthcare workers.
“...we need to stop the spread of the virus. And to do that, nurses and other health care workers need optimal personal protective equipment to do their jobs safely,” Deborah Burger, RN, co-president of NNUnited, said in a statement to USA TODAY on the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s failure to issue an emergency temporary mandatory standard to protect health care workers and other frontline workers from COVID-19 exposure. NNU called it inexcusable that Congress was debating a new COVID-19 interim package without that OSHA provision anywhere in the bill.
”Members of NNU demand President Donald Trump use the Defense Production Act to order the mass production of protective equipment, including N95 respirators, face shields, gowns, gloves and shoe coverings, as well as ventilators and test kits.”
This was the latest of healthcare worker demonstrations nationwide, some in protest of disastrous PPE supply, others counter-protesting rallies against stay-at-home and other safety restrictions in cities, counties and states, because “we don't think we have enough equipment in the hospitals … to take care of all the patients that are going to be coming in” on a second wave of contagion and in surges of infected population refusing to take preventive measures.
A series of photographs from photojournalist Alyson McClaran went viral, showing nurses in scrubs with their arms crossed, standing in front of cars of anti-restriction demonstrators, many haranguing the nurses through lowered windows. ...
“More than 7 in 10 of our nurses are reporting exposure to COVID-19 and most are still untested,” New York State Nurses Assn Exec.Dir. Pat Kane said. “We cannot allow these dangerous practices to continue.” Over 9,000 health care personnel had fallen ill and at least 27 had died, the CDC reported last week, calling the figures considerable underestimates due to insufficient reportage coming in.
The U.S. is now approaching 800,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and a death toll of more than 42,000 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Johns Hopkins University data dashboard...