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Nurses Suspended for Refusing to Treat Coronavirus Patients Without N95 Mask: AP

They were reportedly suspended from a California hospital after telling managers they wouldn’t enter COVID-19 patient rooms without proper masks.

At least ten nurses at a California hospital were suspended after telling their managers they wouldn’t enter COVID-19 patients’ rooms without N95 masks, the union representing them told the Associated Press. One of the nurses at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, said that hospital officials initially told them that N95 masks, which filter out most airborne particles, weren’t necessary. However, when a nurse tested positive for coronavirus recently, staff started demanding better protection. The 10 suspended nurses are among hundreds of health-care workers across the country who say they’ve been asked to work without adequate protection, AP reports. Some have made their own supplies, fundraised to buy their own or taken part in protests. Saint John’s said in a statement to AP that, as of Tuesday, it was providing N95 masks to all nurses caring for COVID-19 patients and those awaiting test results. At least 9,200 health-care workers have contracted the highly-infectious virus, the CDC says.