Frontline Workers Exposed & At-Risk with Fake PPE

President Joseph R Biden

Healthcare workers on the frontlines have reported being provided highly suspicious and potentially counterfeit PPE. Workers should not have to vet their own PPE, our nation must crack down on the infiltration of fake PPE that has entered our healthcare facilities. Our country must ramp up production of NIOSH approved masks to ensure workers are no longer Exposed & At-Risk.

To: President Joseph R Biden
From: [Your Name]

Those on the frontlines who risk their lives battling COVID-19 every day deeply appreciate your acknowledgements their sacrifices. Without healthcare workers sacrifices suffering and loss of life caused by this pandemic would have been even greater. There is no denying that healthcare workers have been and continue to be Exposed & At-Risk when asked to provide care without the benefit of adequate workplace protections and protective equipment.

Now, you and your administration have an opportunity to make a difference for healthcare workers, by ensuring our nation adequately protects frontline caregivers. While caring for the sick, healthcare workers have been provided fraudulent, counterfeit respiratory protection by their employers. When forced to use counterfeit N95s, they are Exposed & At-Risk.

1) Increase national and state resources to crack down on the production and distribution of counterfeit PPE supplies and respirators, especially in healthcare settings.

2) Ramp up production of NIOSH approved respiratory protection and personal protective equipment through the DPA.

3) Support the CDC in formalizing aerosolized inhalation of viral particles as the primary route of transmission of COVID-19.

4) Disallow rollbacks at the CDC with regard to healthcare worker protections.

5) Issue the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to enforce workplace protection and PPE training for employers and workers alike.