Nurses Battling Coronavirus Beg for Protective Gear and Better Planning

Concerns from nurses in Washington State and California echo those of nurses nationwide. National Nurses United, a union that represents about 150,000 nurses across the country, announced on Thursday the sobering results of an online survey it recently conducted.

Of the 6,500 nurses who participated, 29 percent said their hospitals had a plan in place to isolate potential coronavirus patients, and 44 percent said they had received guidance from their employers about how to handle the virus.

Sixty-three percent had access to N95 face masks, and a quarter of the respondents had access to an even more protective mask recommended by the union, known as a PAPR, or a powered air purifying respirator.

One California nurse, who is in a 14-day self-quarantine after caring for a coronavirus patient, complained that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was not testing her for the virus quickly enough. “This is not the ticket dispenser at the deli counter; it’s a public health emergency!” she wrote in a statement shared by National Nurses United.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/us/coronavirus-nurses.html

https://act.nationalnursesunited.org/page/-/files/graphics/NU-Quarantine-RN-press-conf-statement.pdf

At least 2 killed when tornado smashes into Nashville

Source: NBC

At least two people were killed when a tornado struck parts of Nashville and eastern communities early Tuesday, triggering warning sirens and damaging dozens of structures, according to officials and reports. Injuries were also reported.

The tornado, which was spotted about 12:30 a.m., killed two people in east Nashville, Metro Nashville police tweeted.

The tornado was spotted northwest of downtown Nashville and took aim at parts of the city, National Weather Service meteorologist Faith Borden said. Mount Juliet and Lebanon also appeared hard hit, she said, but the weather service has not yet completed a damage assessment.

Police in Mount Juliet, east of Nashville, reported that the town of around 30,000 was "impacted significantly" with multiple homes damaged and multiple injuries.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tornado-touches-down-nashville-area-damaging-homes-buildings-n1147701

Cuomo: New York directive to require insurers to cover costs associated with COVID-19