A worker inspects disposable gloves at a factory in Malaysia, a country that has been the top supplier of medical gloves to the U. S. and which is facing increasing competition from China. MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
PPE PPE
Stories About
PPE
Peru has the world's highest COVID death rate. Here's why
People line up to be tested for the coronavirus at a free testing site Wednesday, Nov. 18 in Seattle. Elaine Thompson/AP hide caption
An ambulance pulls up as nurses outside a triage tent for the Emergency Department at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle put on gowns and other protective gear at the start of their shift, on April 2, 2020. A resurgence of the coronavirus has health care workers and government leaders worried about dwindling resources and an exhausted workforce. Ted S. Warren/AP hide caption
'We're All Tired Of This': Health Care Workers In Seattle Prepare For Another Surge
Earlier this year, Monster City Studios, a company that normally makes amusement park and movie props, pivoted to manufacturing MCS face shields with forehead protection. It was one of many small companies to make the switch. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Why Can't America Make Enough N95 Masks? 6 Months Into Pandemic, Shortages Persist
Before massive wildfires broke out in California, farmworkers already had to take extra precautions for COVID-19. Now they must worry about dangerous air from wildfires. In this photo, farmworkers arrive early in the morning to begin harvesting on April 28 in Greenfield, Calif. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption
Wildfires Make Dangerous Air For Farmworkers: 'It's Like You Can't Breathe'
The Federal Emergency Management Agency says that beginning Sept. 15, it will no longer reimburse states for personal protective equipment in nonemergency settings, including schools or courthouses. Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
PPE and medical supplies are piled up at a wing at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. Demand for such equipment has remained high months into the pandemic. David J. Phillip/AP hide caption
Yep, Masks And Protective Gear Are Still Hard To Get — Especially For Small Buyers
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, new suppliers have jumped into the market for surgical masks. Some have touted FDA certificates that don't have any regulatory meaning. Aleksandr Zubkov/Getty Images hide caption
'Meaningless' FDA Certificates Are Used To Tout Dubious Face Masks
A fish-plant worker processes seafood at Blue Harvest Fisheries in New Bedford, Mass. Workers were provided face shields to prevent the spread of the coronavirus on the plant floor. Josh Souza/Special to The Public's Radio hide caption
This City's Coronavirus Safety Measures Could Become Best Practices
The Public's Radio
This City's Coronavirus Safety Measures Could Become Best Practices
An N95 respirator — a critical piece of personal protective equipment. The U.S. is now restricting the ability of aid groups abroad to use American funds to buy PPE. Xinzheng/Getty Images hide caption
Some Smithfield Foods workers and their families have protested against the company's decision not to close plants amid the coronavirus pandemic. Christina Stella/NET Radio hide caption
Some Meatpackers Question New COVID-19 Safety Guidelines
Nebraska Public Media
Health care workers drive by to express their support for nurses needing personal protective equipment outside the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on April 13. Damian Dovarganes/AP hide caption
Nurses Left Vulnerable To COVID-19: 'We're Not Martyrs Sacrificing Our Lives'
North Country Public Radio
Nurses Left Vulnerable To COVID-19: 'We're Not Martyrs Sacrificing Our Lives'
Paramedics and hospital workers prepare to lift a COVID-19 patient onto a hospital stretcher outside the Montefiore Medical Center Moses Campus, the Bronx, Tuesday, April 07, 2020, New York City. John Moore/Getty Images hide caption
Internal Emails Show VA Hospitals Are Rationing Protective Gear
A ventilator alongside medical supplies and a stretcher is displayed before a news conference at the Javits Center in New York City on March 23. John Minchillo/AP hide caption
Some doctors say they are being told they can't use their own personal protective equipment, such as gloves and masks. zoranm/Getty Images hide caption
Workers inside a warehouse in Columbus, Ohio, prepare Battelle's decontamination units for deployment. Paige Pfleger/WOSU hide caption
Technology To Clean And Reuse PPE Is Being Deployed To Hotspot Hospitals
Heffernan photographs health care worker Martha Lyne Freeman. Courtesy of Marc Campos/Occidental College hide caption
An Artist's Brainstorm: Put Photos On Those Faceless Ebola Suits
This design of this new anti-Ebola suit will make health workers more comfortable and could also save lives. Courtesy of Clinvue and Roy Heisler hide caption
Man, that PPE is hot. And not in a good way. One challenge for the designers was to come up a way to give health workers more time in personal protective equipment without overheating. Will Kirk/Jhpiego/CBID hide caption
Dr. Bhadelia spent 12 days caring for the sick in an Ebola ward. Her experience has convinced her that she must return. Courtesy of Nahid Bhadelia hide caption
A female sanitation worker wears standard gear for a Doctors Without Borders Ebola center. The outfit includes rubber boots, goggles, a face mask, a hood, three layers of gloves, a Tyvek suit and thick rubber apron. No exposed skin is allowed. She was photographed in Monrovia, Liberia. John W. Poole/NPR hide caption