Nurse Defends Legitimacy of Photo of Colleagues Wearing Garbage Bags Because of What They Called Gear Shortage

Several weeks ago, unsettling photos from inside Mt. Sinai West Hospital in New York City surfaced of nurses on the frontlines of the fight against the coronavirus wearing garbage bags because of what they called a shortage of protective gear.

After hospital and government officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said that there was no shortage, a fellow nurse is speaking out to defend her colleagues.

"There are nurses in that hospital that are struggling and crying and running crazy," Diana Torres told Inside Edition.

"Maybe it's put away, but is everybody getting what they need to be protected and protect the rest of the staff and the other patients? No, that's not what's happening."

She said she was risking her career by speaking out, but noted that she didn't care because her life also was on the line.

A senior nurse at the hospital, Kious Kelly, died from coronavirus earlier this week.

"I believe this could have been prevented," his sister, Marya Sherron, told Inside Edition. "I believe that his hospital was not prepared for this or equipped."

In a statement to Inside Edition, Mt. Sinai said, "We always provide all our staff with the critically important [personal protective equipment] they need to safely do their job. In fact, the troubling photo circulating in the media specifically shows the nurses in proper PPE underneath garbage bags."

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