Of the 33 Covid-19 “affected products” listed on the leaked Northern Ireland document, 32 items were marked “out of stock”, with one kind of protective clothing marked “critically low in stock”. The Northern Ireland document leaked to the Guardian, titled “Covid-19 product shortages”, suggests commercial suppliers are struggling to meet the rise in demand for PPE as the NHS in Northern Ireland, known as Health and Social Care (HSC), responds to rising numbers of Covid-19 patients. In Northern Ireland on Friday, Stormont’s finance minister, Conor Murphy, announced a joint-deal with the Irish government for a “significant order” of PPE from China. Over the past week, PPE shortages have emerged as a major issue in the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In recent days the Guardian has continued to receive messages from frontline healthcare workers from around the UK expressing concern about the adequacy and availability of PPE.

Source: The Guardian March 30, 2020 13:21 UTC