Thread by @TrinityResists

PSA from a good friend of mine, a PhD in nursing & professor at U of WA School of Medicine, after working a triple shift:

“Please please please stop hoarding masks! Unless you‘re providing direct care to patients coughing in your face, YOUR MASK WILL NOT PROTECT YOU
1/4
#COVID19

Staying home & washing your hands may protect you, but MASKS WILL NOT.

Do you know who your masks will protect? Those of us in the healthcare field who are RUNNING OUT OF MASKS because people keep stealing them from our waiting rooms & off of personal protection equipment carts.

All Seattle-area hospitals are now mask rationing because there is a critical shortage of masks here. And they are getting really hard to replace - BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE HOARDING THEM.

This means my nurses working double+ shifts get one mask per day to protect themselves.

#COVID19

So please, if you have a large stash of masks in preparation for the zombie apocalypse or whatever, take them to your local community health clinic or hospital so the people who are actually caring for the people infected with this virus can protect themselves.”

#COVID19seattle

Footnote since it’s being mentioned in the comments:

We’ve seen some tweets on the same subject however, my friend told me this, just this morning & it pertains to what’s happening in the Seattle area—an epicenter for #coronavirus.

Shes not on twitter; told her I’d share this.