Thousands of Australian healthcare workers have pleaded with authorities to urgently provide them with more protective equipment amid a 'terrifying' shortage on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.
A GP and clinic owner said they had begun purchasing N95 masks from eBay, at $6 each, as they were unable to get adequate supplies through the government or their local health network, while another said if she died it would be the government's fault.
However he conceded securing PPE was difficult during a global pandemic with intense competition for medical supplies."We have on order, both from our international sources and domestic sources over 500 million masks," Mr Hunt said. "I have become increasingly confident about the delivery. "and there was little transparency about how much was available.
Others said they had no access to PPE at all, including a surgeon, who said they were treating immuno-suppressed cancer patients, while some hospital staff even claimed they were forced to make their own face shields. “They don’t feel … that they can trust everything is in hand and all possible measures are being taken,” he said.
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