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UK struggles at peak of COVID-19 pandemic with limited supplies

The Health Canada approval sticker is seen on completed faces shields for health care workers as Machinist Steve Arnold works on more at University Machine Services in the Faculty of Engineering at Western University in London, Ontario on April 6, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Bianca Rahimi

Press TV, London

According to research done by the Commonwealth Fund in 2017, a US think tank, the United Kingdom’s healthcare system ranks the best in the world.

But Covid-19 is testing it to its limits. A lack of Personal Protective Equipment is taking its toll. And so members of the public are stepping in. Business are dropping everything to utilize their materials to help the NHS. People at home are making protective visors for frontline NHS staff and distributing them for free. One volunteer says he has been inundated with orders.

NHS staff are improvising but some are threatening to quit if they don’t get the right supplies. And aside from PPE shortages for those on the frontline, the UK still doesn’t have enough respirators and may be running out of other vital supplies to save lives as well.

This has drawn massive criticism because the outbreak began back in December so the UK government had months to prepare for this. It is an emotional rollercoaster for these professionals. They are having to choose which patients should get access to life-saving interventions and who should be left to expire. Hundreds are dying each day and for fear of the virus spreading, they are dying alone.

Doctors and nurses are with underlying health problems themselves are risking their lives to save the thousands of Covid-19 patients coming in each day. They are not getting tested, as the UK does not have enough testing kits and is prioritizing patients for now. This means many NHS staff may soon have to choose between their jobs and the safety of themselves and their families.


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