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British doctors and nurses plea for supplies

An empty tour boat on the River Thames in central London, with the London Eye wheel at right, Sunday, March 22, 2020. For some people the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, but for some it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
An empty tour boat on the River Thames in central London, with the London Eye wheel at right, Sunday, March 22, 2020. For some people the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, but for some it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) An empty tour boat on the River Thames in central London, with the London Eye wheel at right, Sunday, March 22, 2020. For some people the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, but for some it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

By Associated Press 1 min read

LONDON – British doctors and nurses are making urgent pleas for more protective equipment as the number of coronavirus patients in U.K. hospitals soars.

Almost 4,000 medical workers signed a letter to the Sunday Times saying front-line staff felt like “cannon fodder.” They warned that medics would die if they did not receive better equipment.

The letter said that intensive-care doctors and anaesthetists “have been carrying out the highest-risk procedure, putting a patient on a ventilator, with masks that expired in 2015.”

Britain’s coronavirus outbreak is not expected to peak for weeks, and already staff at some hospitals have complained about shortages of ventilators and protective equipment like face masks, safety glasses, gloves and protective suits.

Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said that hospitals would receive new stocks of protective equipment by Sunday afternoon.

The government has also ordered thousands of ventilators and has struck a deal with private hospitals to use thousands of beds and 20,000 medical staff to treat coronavirus patients.