Staff 'at risk' over lack of protective gear

The BBC has reported that NHS staff have said that they are being put at risk during the coronavirus outbreak because of a lack of protective gear.

Frontline healthcare workers allegedly feel like ‘cannon fodder’ as they do not have access to necessary equipment such as face masks, with many also concerned that not enough staff are actually being tested for the virus. This is despite medical leaders saying that health workers could face more risk because they may be exposed to higher doses of the virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously stressed that the UK had ‘stockpiles’ of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Asked during Prime Minister's Questions about the shortage of PPE, he said: "Our NHS should feel that they are able to interact with patients with perfect security and protection. There is a massive effort going on, comparable to the effort to build enough ventilators, to ensure that we have adequate supplies of PPE equipment not just now, but throughout the outbreak."

Johnson recently announced that the UK would be increasing the number of tests per day from 10,000 to 25,000 and was ‘prioritising testing’ for NHS staff. However, the British Medical Association tweeted that his claim was not reflected by ‘the experiences of our members at the frontline of the health service and is something we are pushing to be resolved as a matter of urgency’.