Remember the PPE Shortage? It's still happening.
Remember the PPE shortage? It’s still happening...
It's been six months since Covid-19 was declared a global health emergency and the US had its first case, yet many healthcare providers and essential workers are still at high risk of infection for the same reason as they have since then: a shortage of critical supplies such personal protective equipment (PPE), including goggles, face shields, gloves, gowns, & more.
Medical staff all over the country are having to reuse their PPE or use substandard materials in the absence of adequate supplies, some of which they've had to purchase themselves on the gray market. The CDC has recorded over 82,500 cases and 450 deaths among healthcare personnel, and the actual numbers are estimated to be even higher. It's not only hospitals that need more PPE; many other areas of health care and social services do too, including primary care facilities, homes for the disabled, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, immigrant detention centers, and nursing homes. Other essential workers, including grocery store clerks and delivery workers, also need PPE to protect themselves and others.
There's much to be said about the inadequacy of the Trump admin's response to Covid, but one of the ongoing problems is that supplies still aren’t being distributed equally around the country. Left to fend for themselves, it's the well-connected hospitals and facilities in higher income communities that can source enough supplies while other facilities, already underfunded yet serving the most vulnerable and marginalized populations, struggle to find enough. It's yet another way the fallout of Covid has underscored the income, race, and health disparities in our country.
Please consider donating to: Get Us PPE, Direct Relief.
Sources: NPR, Politico, Vox, CDC
It's been six months since Covid-19 was declared a global health emergency and the US had its first case, yet many healthcare providers and essential workers are still at high risk of infection for the same reason as they have since then: a shortage of critical supplies such personal protective equipment (PPE), including goggles, face shields, gloves, gowns, & more.
Medical staff all over the country are having to reuse their PPE or use substandard materials in the absence of adequate supplies, some of which they've had to purchase themselves on the gray market. The CDC has recorded over 82,500 cases and 450 deaths among healthcare personnel, and the actual numbers are estimated to be even higher. It's not only hospitals that need more PPE; many other areas of health care and social services do too, including primary care facilities, homes for the disabled, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, immigrant detention centers, and nursing homes. Other essential workers, including grocery store clerks and delivery workers, also need PPE to protect themselves and others.
There's much to be said about the inadequacy of the Trump admin's response to Covid, but one of the ongoing problems is that supplies still aren’t being distributed equally around the country. Left to fend for themselves, it's the well-connected hospitals and facilities in higher income communities that can source enough supplies while other facilities, already underfunded yet serving the most vulnerable and marginalized populations, struggle to find enough. It's yet another way the fallout of Covid has underscored the income, race, and health disparities in our country.
Please consider donating to: Get Us PPE, Direct Relief.
Sources: NPR, Politico, Vox, CDC