Hawkeye Reporter

The State of Iowa is experiencing a shortage of personal protection equipment for medical staff and first responders that may have contact with COVID-19 positive patients.

The shortage means decisions will have to be made that may increase their risk of contracting the virus.

The Iowa Department of Public Health issued a PPE shortage order, according to KCCI 8.

Under the order, "health care providers, hospitals, clinics and medical and response organizations" will need to figure out how to extend their PPE supply.

This means medical staff and first responders and anyone else that uses PPE will need to minimize contact with patients as best they can and ask patients to keep their mouths covered with their own personal masks or some kind of barrier, according to KCCI 8.

Elective procedures will also have to be canceled.

As the shortage grows and demand exceeds supply, PPE like face masks will need to be used past their shelf life and be used repeatedly with more than one patient, according to KCCI 8.

If PPE shortages reach crisis capacity, face masks will have to be used when dealing with infectious patients only and when dealing with other patients, medical staff will have to wear homemade masks with face shields, according to KCCI 8.

Sarah Reisetter, Deputy Director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, told KCCI 8, "We understand the issuance of this order can be unsettling, but due to the shortage of PPE supply we determine that now is it time to take this action."

A quarter of all new COVID-19 positive cases in Iowa are medical workers, according to KCCI 8.