Doctors and health workers have criticised the British government for suggesting that gowns used to protect them while treating coronavirus patients could be re-used, as supplies run low across the country.

Referring to new guidelines issued to hospitals, Rob Harwood, Consultants Committee chairman at the British Medical Association — the trade union for doctors said: “This guidance is a further admission of the dire situation that some doctors and healthcare workers continue to find themselves in because of government failings.”

“If it’s being proposed that staff reuse equipment, this must be demonstrably driven by science and the best evidence — rather than availability — and it absolutely cannot compromise the protection of healthcare workers.”

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