“They’ve had to use the same mask for three or four days”
One of the ongoing stories of the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom has been the incredibly low levels of personal protective equipment made available by the government to workers in the National Health Service.
Doctors and nurses treating patients suffering from COVID-19 have in some cases been forced to tailor makeshift PPE using black bin bags and tape. This dearth of supplies has been partially responsible for the high number of deaths among health professionals during the crisis.
A damning situation for the government to begin, health secretary Matt Hancock did not help things by stating publicly that he felt frontline staff should only use the PPE that they need, an inference of waste that angered many.
The dearth in supplies has created a vacuum which is being filled by unlikely heroes, stepping up to provide PPE to those most in need of it. Two of those people are Blackburn Rovers midfielder Bradley Johnson and ex-Nottingham Forest and QPR striker Dexter Blackstock.
Blackstock, who runs a pharmaceutical company called MediConnect, has used his contacts in the industry to source PPE, PPE which he and Johnson have been hand delivering to care homes and hospices around Nottingham and Derby.
JOE spoke to Johnson, who discussed the work he’s been doing, and how his visits to care homes and conversations with frontline staff have opened his eyes to the seriousness of the situation.
To help the supply of PPE to care homes and hospices in need, donate here.
👏 @Rovers midfielder @BradJohnson15 has donated 1000’s of PPE to care homes pic.twitter.com/lsMHI4i7x3
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 22, 2020
