U.S. coronavirus cases surge to more than 100,000 as doctors protest medical deficiencies

Maria Caspani and Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters)-The total number of known coronavirus cases in the United States surged well over 100,000, killing more than 1,600 people. Black market.

U.S. healthcare workers in a pandemic ditch have more protection and equipment to treat the surge of patients already pushing the hospital to its limits at viral hotspots such as New York City, New Orleans, and Detroit on Friday I asked for.

A nurse at the Jacobi Medical Center in Bronx, New York, protested outside the hospital on Saturday, saying that supervisors had called for re-use of personal protective equipment such as masks. There were also signs with a slogan such as “We can save our lives and save your lives.”

According to a video posted online, “a mask should be disposable,” one nurse said. “Now, suddenly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it is safe to reuse. These choices are based on needs, not science.”

One of the residents of the New York Presbyterian Hospital stated that the mask was issued in only one.

“This is your mask forever. You can take it with you. This is how to clean your mask.” People who make these decisions enter the patient’s room Not. “

Doctors are also concerned about the lack of ventilators, machines to help patients breathe, and to people suffering from respiratory diseases like COVID-19, pneumonia caused by a novel, highly contagious coronavirus. Widely needed.

The hospital has also been alerted to the shortage of drugs, oxygen tanks, and trained staff.

The number of confirmed cases of infection in the United States increased by about 18,000 on Friday, the highest in a day to over 103,000. By Saturday morning, the total was 103,598. The United States has the highest number of recorded cases of coronavirus in any country since Thursday’s infections outpaced those in China and Italy.

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At least 1,638 people died as of Saturday morning, and the United States ranked sixth in the national pandemic death toll, according to official data compiled by Reuters.

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The abundant shortage of key medical supplies has forced desperate doctors and nurses to take matters into their own hands.

Doctors in the New York area have said they had to recycle protective clothing or resort to counterfeit suppliers.

Dr. Alexander Salerno of Salerno Medical Associates in northern New Jersey explained that she would receive it in an abandoned warehouse via a “ broker ” paying $ 17,000 for masks and other protective gear that should cost about $ 2,500. .

“I don’t know the name. The phone number is a text message,” Salerno said. “And you agree with the terms. You transfer money to your bank account. They give you the time and address to come.”

A nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York stated that she locked and concealed N95 respirator masks, surgical masks, and other materials that could be stolen unless others left.

“The mask disappears,” said nurse Diana Torres. “I hide everything in the drawer in front of the nurse station.”

One nurse at the Westchester Medical Center on the outskirts of the city says his colleagues have begun to bring out scarce supplies without asking, pulling it out to a team with better inventory and locking the closet with a mask, gloves and gown. Prompted.

Physicians in the emergency room in Michigan, the epicenter of the pandemic, had worn one paper face mask throughout the shift due to lack, and hospitals in the Detroit area would soon run out of ventilators. Said.

“We have a hospital system that needs to start telling us that ventilator supplies are ending here in the Detroit area of ​​Michigan and families can’t save loved ones because they don’t have enough facilities.” Says the doctor. , Dr. Rob Davidson said in a video posted on Twitter.

U.S. President Donald Trump has fired an emergency calling on General Motors to start manufacturing ventilation systems on Friday after accusing General Motors of “wasting time” during negotiations.

He had previously resisted an increasing demand to invoke the Defense Production Act, a law of the Korean War era that gave the President extensive procurement authority in state emergencies.

Sophia Thomas, a nurse at the DePaul Community Health Center in New Orleans, where the Mardi Gras celebrations fueled an outbreak in Louisiana’s largest city late last month, said the number of coronavirus cases was “ amazing. ” Was.

Eric Garsetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States, said spikes are making Southern California on track to match the number of infections in New York City next week.

(Reports by Maria Caspani and Jonathan Stempel, additional reports by Gabriella Borter and Brendan Pierson, edited by Daniel Wallis)