The World Health Organization (WHO) has tweeted that nearly 1,000 health workers in the African region have been infected with coronavirus:

The WHO urged governments to make sure that doctors and nurses had personal protective equipment (PPE).

Anyone who comes into close contact with patients who may or do have coronavirus should wear some form of protection.

Clinicians carrying out tasks that could generate airborne droplets of saliva loaded with the virus should use an even higher standard of protection, including disposable gowns, filtering respirators and face-shielding visors.

But global demand for PPE is at unprecedented levels.

Nearly 1000 health workers in the #AfricanRegion have been infected with #COVID19, many of them #nurses.

Stakeholders must ensure that nurses have the supplies and equipment they need to deliver care safely. Nurses are essential in keeping communities healthy! #NursesDay2020 pic.twitter.com/pE9WCp9dPz

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) May 12, 2020