NURSES DEMAND IMMEDIATE TESTING OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS FOR COVID-19

The AFT is calling for the testing of healthcare workers who are at a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19.

The nation’s second largest nurses’ union, the AFT, is calling on employers and the federal government to provide coronavirus tests for all U.S. healthcare workers, alongside access to universal testing for all Americans.

And they are seeking emergency protection and supplies to slow the growth of the dangerous pandemic.

Hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers on the frontline of the COVID-19 outbreak are yet to be tested, despite reports of waves of infections. Nurses lack the basic resources and supplies they need to help patients and do their job safely—including N95 respirators, patient care beds, and childcare for their children. Many have resorted to making their own masks as the CDC recommends wearing “bandanas” and “scarves” to ward off the threat. Healthcare workers are experiencing enormous stress and fear as they scramble to respond.

AFT President Randi Weingarten will be joined by nurses and other healthcare professionals from around the country to speak out on the dismal reality of hospitals triaging coronavirus patients without tests and the critical protections and resources to do their work safely and effectively.