This couldn’t be more serious. The ABC reports a medical supplier is warning that “hundreds of hospitals are on the verge of running out of masks.”
The government tells us an extra 30 million medical masks will be in Australia within two weeks, but today a medical supplier said "most hospitals" were just days away from running out of masks. And we don’t know what type of masks have been ordered. Healthcare workers need P2 masks, not just surgical masks.
This is what we’re up against, and why healthcare workers need adequate stocks of proper PPE:
"The coronavirus will live on any surface for days — it will live on your hair, your skin and your clothes — so you need a gown for full sleeves, hopefully with a hoodie to cover your hair.
"You need goggles, you need gloves, and a lot of people overseas are also wearing a face shield on top of all of that, and then you're technically meant to change it after every patient." - Dr Maria Boulton
If we can’t secure PPE from overseas suppliers, we need to start manufacturing it here - and we needed to start doing it yesterday.
Can you help us keep this issue at the top of the priority list? Nearly 90,000 of us have signed this petition. Let’s get it to 100,000 by the end of the week!
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Thank you.