28 year-old nurse says she's 'writing her will' because she might not survive the coronavirus equipment shortage

New York nurses came out in full force to tell the world about the situation they're currently facing.

In an impassioned plea in front of the press, three women spoke about their situation working around the clock to keep patients safe in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, while the government fails to provide the equipment they need.

Registered nurse Laura Ucik said that she feels like "a sheep going to slaughter" when she went to work.

My colleagues and I are writing our last will and testament. I am 28 years old. 

We fear that we may not survive this pandemic and yet we show up every day to this hospital to take care of our community. 

Another nurse continued:

We don't ask our servicemen and women to go to war without means to protect themselves; our policemen to work without bulletproof vests. 

So, why? Why are we asking nurses to enter rooms with re-used masks? Because we don't have enough supplies. 

A third nurse also spoke, saying:

We are dying, we are getting sick. It doesn't matter how many ventilators we get if we are dead and cannot run the ventilators. If respiratory therapists, if doctors, if nurses, if frontline caregivers are sick, are dying, there won't be anyone left to take care of the public. 

We are demanding to invoke the Defence Production Act so that all of our factories can be spinning out PPE [personal protective equipment] for us, ventilators for us... the materials that we need to save people from this pandemic that will only get worse.

Since the nurses came forward, it seems the president has taken notice. Last night, Donald Trump invoked the Defence Production Act, which directs six companies to pivot to manufacturing ventilators.

It comes just days after Trump appeared to question the need for more ventilators in New York hospitals, suggesting staff may be illegally selling them.

The administration has yet to adequately address the shortage of masks, which healthcare providers claim is so bad they are having to recycle masks which are intended for one-time use.

New York state has the highest number of cases of coronavirus of any US state, with 92,743 cases at the time of writing – almost four times that of the second hardest-hit state, New Jersey, which has recorded 25,590.

It also has the highest number of deaths, with 2,468 in the state, accounting for almost half of the entire country's death toll, which currently stands at 6,054.