Lack of training, lack of preparation, lack of proper equipment, all add to the risks that American health workers face before nCoV.

While the number of nCoV infections continues to rise around the world, healthcare workers responsible for inspecting passengers' health at US airports are facing increasing risk, as many people are currently working. without the right mask to help them protect themselves from getting sick.

Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week asked their superiors to change their normal ways of working and provide them with more secure masks. On the evening of March 6, their biggest concern came true: Two medical examiners at Los Angeles International Airport were positive for nCoV.

"Sad news," a senior quarantine official at CDC wrote in an email to colleagues on the same night. According to the email, the two employees will be quarantined until March 17. However, this is not a surprise for the medical examination staff at CDC.

"This will definitely happen," said a veteran health official, who spoke on condition of anonymity at CDC. "They assured us we would be safe. If safe, the quarantine staff would not get sick."

The CDC problem is also the difficulty that health workers across the United States are facing, showing challenges to the Trump administration, which has been criticized for its "overly optimistic" response. before the epidemic.

Trump on February 26 said the risk of nCoV was "very low". However, cases have been recorded in 30 states, of which 22 have died.

Doctors, nurses, emergency personnel and US government health workers argue that they are not adequately protected and prepared in the fight against nCoV. Many complained about the lack of training and information exchange in the workplace as well as the lack of manpower and equipment.

CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said the airport quarantine personnel were equipped with protective equipment appropriate to the role they assumed.

The CDC recommends medical examiners contact passengers from certain countries where the Covid-19 epidemic hotspot, such as China, should wear a mask, gloves and eye protection. They are recommended to stand two meters away from passengers during a temperature test and do not wear an N95 respirator when not in contact with symptomatic passengers. N95 respirators are only used for people with obvious signs of infection.

But according to experts, people infected with nCoV do not always show symptoms.

"Regular medical masks can't help us stop viruses, it just keeps us from spreading the virus to others," a CDC health official said. "We want to know why we can't use an N95 mask. That's crazy."

In the meantime, dozens of medical examiners and other employees at Los Angeles International Airport are said to have been in contact with two people infected with nCoV.

On the morning of March 8, the CDC issued a new guideline for secondary medical examiners (people who frequently interact with passengers from disease hotspots), saying they can now "optionally" use Use a N95 respirator.

The US Department of Health and Human Services does not respond to concerns about the safety of health workers across the country. However, a spokesperson from the ministry said it was working with companies producing medical equipment, including N95 masks, "to speed up the procurement of protective medical supplies. American people ".

WHO warned on Tuesday that a shortage of medical equipment is threatening global health workers, urging the government to quickly increase supply and prevent the spread of rumors and rumors. losses on disease.

CDC's airport quarantine officers are part of the health care team at risk. But a medical expert who participated in the US government's Covid-19 reaction efforts said the problem was even larger.

Emergency responders, from firefighters, emergency personnel to the police, are expressing similar concerns.

"We know the level of professionalism and depth of training that frontline people need, but we haven't really achieved that," he said.

On March 5, the National Nurse Union (NNU) released the results of a nationwide survey that showed that less than 50% of the nurses who responded said their boss communicated to how to identify and respond to suspected cases of nCoV infection. Less than one-fifth said their superiors had a policy to respond to suspected or suspected virus infections and less than one-third said they had adequate workplace protection in the event of the number of cases. Spike infection.

"All of these are listed by them, but when we went to talk to nurses at health facilities, no measures were taken," said Jane Thomason from NNU. "We see many medical staff units not ready to deal with Covid-19."