The union for 400,000 long–term care workers issued a plea for federal help on Wednesday to better protect the health care aides who they say are facing extreme risks as novel coronavirus has spread in dozens of nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the nation.
Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis. "We don’t have anything, not even hand sanitizer," said one health aide working at a 120-bed nursing facility north of Chicago."We were told that if we wanted to wear masks, we had to bring in our own. Apparently they ran out of supplies."
One challenge voiced by several nursing home employees who spoke with ABC News was the fear that getting sick would take not only a physical toll, but also a financial one.