Front-line health care workers battling the Covid-19 coronavirus across the country are still reporting shortages of vital protective gear — especially face masks, reports the Washington Post.
Nearly two-thirds of the front-line health workers said they don’t have enough N95 masks, the most effective type, according to a new Post-Ipsos poll.
“More than 4 in 10 also saw shortages of less protective surgical masks and 36 percent said their supply of hand sanitizer was running low,” according to the poll. “Roughly 8 in 10 reported wearing one mask for an entire shift, and more than 7 in 10 had to wear the same mask more than once.”
The survey, conducted in late April and early May, “interviewed a national sample of 8,086 U.S. adults, including 278 people who work with patients in health-care settings, such as doctors’ offices, clinics, hospitals and nursing homes,” the Post says.
Despite the shortages, three quarters of the health-care workers who responded say they believe their employers are doing enough to ensure their safety — and they also gave high marks to their governors and other state officials.
“They had much less confidence in President Trump,” the Post says, with 59% saying they disapprove of his handling of the pandemic.
In addition, almost a third of health workers told the pollsters they thought business and travel restrictions were being lifted too quickly at the time the survey was conducted.