Infected Nurses at Mexico Hospital Claim They Were Told to Avoid Masks

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Nurses and medical workers of a public hospital in Mexico immensely hit by COVID-19 outbreak revealed they were instructed by their managers to avoid wearing protective masks at the start of the epidemic to prevent stirring panic among patients, according to a recently-published article.

At this time of the COVID-19 crisis, the health and safety of essential workers, especially in the healthcare sector, must be a top priority. Still, IMSS General Hospital in Monclova proved otherwise.

In late March, the coronavirus infection has already claimed the lives of two doctors and a hospital administrator in the hospital located at the northern state of Coahuila and infected least 51 staff members, according to the state health department.

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Charly Escobedo Gonzalez, a nurse who works at the Monclova hospital, disclosed that managers "said that protective equipment wasn't necessary" at the beginning of the outbreak.

Another nurse surnamed Hernandez Perez, who asked not to disclose her full name revealed she was ordered by the deputy head of nursing to take off her N95 masks because it was not necessary.

"In a morning clinical class, the sub-head told us not to create panic...that we shouldn't wear facemasks because we were going to create a psychosis," said Hernandez Perez, who has now contacted the disease and rests at home. Another nurse backed Hernandez Perez's statement.

Despite the pandemic slowly hitting hospital staff, hospital floor managers instructed healthcare workers not to wear facemasks, which some had bought for themselves due to the lack of hospital equipment, according to seven workers. One added even soap and bleach are becoming scarce in the hospital.

One nurse, who asked not to be named for fear of backlash, shared that during the third week of March, she was repeatedly instructed not to wear a facemask while working in high-risk areas such as the ground floor of the hospital, where the emergency room is located.

As of this writing, at least four of the infected workers are currently hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19.

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In an interview, Raul Pena Viveros, a senior official at Mexico's principal public health service IMSS, which operates the hospital, said that the health workers should be believed, however, not confirming details of the reports.

"Specifically, if they are saying that, then, of course, we have to believe it," said Pena Viveros. He added that it is possible to have misunderstandings inside a hospital as to where it is appropriate to wear protective equipment.

"Not all of the workers have to wear the same equipment inside the hospital. And when this type of equipment is used badly, it runs out more quickly, and they put workers who are in contact with patients at risk," he said.

Pena Viveros said some staff at the hospital were also wearing inappropriate industrial-style masks that were donated to them due to a lack of proper N95 masks.

He said the hospital has already contracted nurses and doctors from other facilities to address the personnel shortage after more than 300 other workers were temporarily sent home as the hospital scrambled to contain the outbreak. Still, some staff said the hospital's ability to care for patients had been impeded.

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In the most recent update, Mexico has registered 4,661 people with the coronavirus and 296 deaths. It is also worthy to note that although Mexico has recorded only a fraction of the figures in the neighboring United States, the coronavirus arrived weeks later in the Latin American country.   

Health officials have not elaborated why so many Monclova healthcare workers became infected.

Due to the media backlash caused by the lack of equipment to deal with COVID-19, Zoe Robledo, IMSS chief announced last week April that the director of the Monclova hospital had been temporarily replaced.