The demand for healthcare is increasing as the number of patients with coronavirus increases. It has become common knowledge that the United States has the greatest number of infections and deaths in the world. Doctors and nurses across the country are working to the best of their abilities to fight the virus, but many fear for their safety.

The main reason that healthcare officials fear fighting the virus is because they lack the proper safety equipment. In many places, face masks are not hard to find, but the more protective masks that are recommended by the CDC such as the N95 mask are in extremely high demand. By not having the proper protective equipment, healthcare workers are putting themselves, their family, and anyone else they may encounter at risk. 

Healthcare employees are also lacking the proper equipment to help their patients. So far, the most effective treatment appears to be the use of ventilators, but hospitals across the world do not have enough ventilators for the coronavirus patients. To solve this problem, car companies such as Ford and Tesla are starting to make their own much needed ventilators. This is only one of the shortages in treatments that the United States is having. According to the Washington Post, because the United States gets most of their drugs from overseas in countries such as China, there are shortages because many factories have stopped production, and countries keep the supplies to treat their own patients instead of selling them overseas.

Megan Chou (9) says that “people should do whatever they can to help out healthcare workers.” The easiest way is to stay home and to avoid going outside. Another way to help is to donate money, masks, and cleaning supplies to hospitals so that they can continue to help patients. Even though many people are not financially capable of donating during this time, homemade masks may not meet the safety requirements, and cleaning supplies may be difficult to find; any donation possible would be helping hospitals. Another way people, especially young adults, can help out is by volunteering. People who meet the qualifications to be a blood donor should consider donating blood with the American Red Cross so hospitals have one less shortage.

In conclusion, the coronavirus is causing a crisis in America’s healthcare system. There are shortages of much needed supplies, and because of this, there have been many casualties. Stay home to stay healthy so that less people get sick. If people are able to effectively social distance, less people will get sick, leading to less people ending up in the hospital.