One of the more unsettling images from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States came from New York in late March.
In a photo that quickly went viral on social media, nurses from Manhattan's Mount Sinai Hospital were seen wearing surgical masks, face shields, gloves, and trash bags over their scrubs."NO MORE GOWNS IN THE WHOLE HOSPITAL" read the caption in the image, which was later deleted.That photo encapsulated the problems that many hospitals in New York and other hard-hit parts of the country were experiencing as they dealt with a crush of COVID-19 patients.
On top of being overwhelmed with severely ill people, healthcare workers were dealing with shortages of the personal protective equipment (PPE) that they need