‘Hero’ nurses need coronavirus protection, says association head

Head of the International Council of Nurses cites rates of infection among medical staff in Spain and Italy as a major worry

Buddhist monks wearing face shields and mask to protect themselves from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) collect alms in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS

A man gets a shave outside closed shops during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventative measure against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in the old quarters of New Delhi. AFP

A countdown clock shows the adjusted time remaining for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games outside Tokyo station, in Tokyo. The postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics will open on July 23, 2021. AFP

Workers install a temporary Doctors Without Borders (MSF) 50 places shelter for homeless people suspected of being infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Brussels. AFP

South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers drive in an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town during a patrol to enforce the 21-day nationwide lockdown in South Africa. AFP

A hotel employee wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant on an arriving guest, as a preventative measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan, China's central Hubei province, a day after travel restrictions into the city were eased following the outbreak. AFP

An aerial photo showing deserted vending stalls on the first day of a 21 day lockdown in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. AFP

Homeless people sleep in a temporary parking lot shelter at Cashman Center, with spaces marked for social distancing to help slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. REUTERS

Women wearing protective masks to prevent the new coronavirus outbreak chat with each other outside a Lego store at a re-opened commercial street in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province. AP

Members of PETA protest live markets outside the World Health Organization in Washington, DC. AFP

Men wearing protective masks sit inside a bus that will take them to a quarantine facility, amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi, India. REUTERS

Police officers speak with prisoners after they were released on parole outside the Sabarmati Central Jail during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ahmedabad, India. REUTERS

People are shown in social-distancing boxes at a temporary homeless shelter set up in a parking lot at Cashman Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP

NHS England's Chief Executive Simon Stevens speaks with NHS staff at ExCel London, during its conversion into the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospital, comprising of two wards, each of 2,000 people, to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak, in Newham, London. REUTERS

More equipment is needed to protect the world's nurses working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, the head of the International Council of Nurses said.

"They are heroic – I think there is no other way to describe what they are doing at this moment," said Howard Catton, a British nurse who is the ICN's chief executive.

Infection rates of 9 per cent and 12 per cent to 14 per cent have been reported among health workers in Italy and Spain, respectively, as well as deaths among nurses there and in Iran and Indonesia, he said.

"We have no doubt that the rate of infections is related in part to the lack of PPE – personal protective equipment," he said at the ICN offices along Lake Geneva.

"There is a global shortage and nurses obviously are at a higher risk given the people that they are caring for."

The federation represents 130 national associations and more than 20 million registered nurses.

The World Health Organisation has called repeatedly for countries and manufacturers to step up production of masks, gloves, gowns and other equipment for vulnerable health workers amid critical shortages.

Nearly 700,000 people have been infected worldwide in the outbreak that began last December in China and has claimed more than 33,000 lives, according to the WHO.

Mr Catton said there had been problems with supply chains in hard-hit Italy and Spain, describing their health systems as "very close to being overwhelmed".

Nurses worldwide take samples from Covid-19 patients, give them medicine and oxygen, and help intubate those in serious condition.

"They are working under intense pressure, often long hours, some working back-to-back shifts for days on end, even sleeping over in the hospital, the facility, in which they work," Mr Catton said.

Some nurses have been forced to re-use their gear or make their own masks and gowns, he said.

"Wearing personal protective equipment when it is available is not easy either... Simple things like going to the loo and eating are of course much more difficult."

Nurses across Africa and South Asia could be at greater risk as the virus moves to poorer settings.

"We are very concerned that those countries that have weaker, more fragile healthcare systems could very quickly become overwhelmed by this virus if it takes hold in their countries," Mr Catton said.

Nurses in Zimbabwe, fearing for their own safety, have been on strike because of a lack of information and protective gear, he said.