Survey says 83 percent of Russian doctors treating COVID-19 patients lack PPE

According to the results of a joint survey, 83 percent of doctors working at Russian medical institutions where coronavirus patients are being treated reported a lack or absence of necessary personal protective equipment (PPE). The study, shared with Meduza’s editorial office, was conducted by the professional network “Doctors at Work” and the Russian television channel “Doktor.” The survey was conducted among 1,175 medical workers from May 2–5.

Among respondents, 60.7 percent said that there is a high probability that they came in contact with a potential COVID-19 patient without protective gear in recent weeks. The rest maintained that their hospitals had taken necessary sanitary measures in time.

In response to the question of what support is necessary for doctors right now, 70.8 percent said “government actions,” 19.3 percent said “patients’ awareness,” and 9.9 percent said “professional experience and knowledge.”

In another survey examining how often hospitals are carrying out coronavirus testing among personnel, the responses from 1,423 medical workers broke down as follows:

• 36.1 percent — no testing is happening at all
• 24.5 percent — only those who are suspected of coming in direct contact with coronavirus patients are being tested
• 17.1 percent — one per week
• 13.5 percent — once since the start of the epidemic
• 6.5 percent — other (for example, once every two weeks, or once every ten days)
• 2.2 percent — once per month, at best

On the morning of May 14, Russian officials announced that the country recorded 9,974 new coronavirus infections in the past day, bringing the nation’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 252,245 patients. Another 93 people reportedly died from the disease, raising Russia’s total number of fatalities officially caused by COVID-19 to 2,305. As many as 53,530 people in Russia are known to have recovered fully, including 5,527 in the past day.