US Coronavirus Update: Frontliners Now Have Higher Chance Of Contracting COVID-19 As Hospitals Ration PPEs

While medical facilities and hospitals have revealed that there were “enough” supplies, resident doctors have a different tale to share.

Implicitly describing the present working conditions as unsafe, a volley of doctors voiced their concerns—with an underlying fear of being at a higher risk of contracting infections under the existing conditions. “In the last week, it has been day and night. Imagine when we get to the apex where we'll be," said a resident, while divulging first-person account on the existing working conditions, to a media outlet. “If they're telling me to keep this mask for five days, do we really have enough PPE? Are they going to say next to keep it for 10 days?” added the resident, who wished to keep their identity hidden.

Citing evident discrepancy between what’s been put forth in the media and the real scenario; Dr. Sarah Iosifescu, a resident physician at Mount Sinai Morningside and West in Manhattan, said: “We have providers that same week going and asking for an N95 mask in the emergency department and explicitly being told you do not get an N95 mask.” The reveal came, as she spoke to the same media outlet via a video teleconference on Tuesday.

One of the biggest complaints put forth by practicing medical professionals in New York is about why they weren’t supplied with the same protective gear that doctors in China and Italy have access to. While a resident revealed that they were given masks; other protective equipment—booties, hairnets and full body-coverall—were still a distant reality for many healthcare workers.

Things have hit rock bottom, so much so, a resident revealed that the medical community was growing to lose faith in the government in terms of banking on them for adequate supplies in the face of the pandemic. The community is planning to raise funds on their own to protect and equip themselves to tackle the crisis.