NHS staff are making improvised masks out of snorkels, buying kit from hardware stores and using school science goggles to protect themselves in anticipation of a rise in coronavirus cases, it has emerged. Doctors and nurses said they were being forced to improvise as they worried about access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE). A consultant anaesthetist working in south-east England reported buying 60 snorkels to adapt into respirator masks. We have heard from numerous frontline NHS doctors who have been forced to improvise as they simply don’t have access to appropriate kit. “The personal protective equipment sent out to NHS staff is certifiedby HSE as safe and appropriate.”

Source: The Guardian April 01, 2020 16:54 UTC