UK: Nurses forced to wear bin bags due to lack of PPE, tested positive for coronavirus

A heartwrenching story has come to light from United Kingdom where three nurses have been tested positive after they were forced to wear the bin bags due to the shortage in personal protective equipment (PPE).

The three nurses were posted in Northwick Park Hospital in Harrow. A few days ago, the three had shared a photo of themselves wrapped in clinical waste bags as there was a shortage of masks, gowns, and gloves.

Previously, the hospital also declared an emergency situation after all beds in the hospital were filled with COVID-19 patients.

According to the reports of metro.co.uk, over 50 percent of staff workers on one ward have now been tested positive for coronavirus, the Daily Telegraph reports claimed.

The nurses also told the publication in March that they were forced to use the bin liners as they had no other choice due to the lack of PPE.

One of the nurses also said that they need proper equipment as they were also supposed to treat their colleagues who have also contracted the contagious virus while treating the COVID-19 victims' patients.

She continued: ‘There are so many younger people here on ventilation – many with asthma, or diabetes. They can’t stop coughing, they just cough and cough and cough and they can’t help it – but there’s little we can do apart from trying to help them breathe. ‘Sometimes the body just gives up, and they die. We can’t save them. The worst part is that we can’t allow their relatives to say goodbye.’

The nurse also added that nurses have been wearing a brave smiles, but from inside they were all terrified.

According to the survey conducted by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), around 14.6% of hospital doctors have been tested positive for the ghastly virus.

In a letter to parliamentary health committee chairman Jeremy Hunt, she said: “Our safety and ability to care for patients is being fundamentally compromised by the lack of adequate and correct supplies of vital personal protective equipment and the slow and small-scale roll-out of COVID-19 testing.”

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Northwick Park Hospital, told the Telegraph, “We are providing full support to those of our staff members who become unwell, and wish them a swift recovery.”

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