Physicians, nurses and other front-line hospital workers have undoubtedly faced significant challenges while caring for COVID-19 patients. But the pandemic has also taken a toll on nonmedical hospital workers, according to The New York Times.
The newspaper has tracked at least 32 nonmedical hospital worker deaths in New York City during the pandemic. The Times compiled obituaries and interviews with hospital employees and relatives to track the deaths.
Nonmedical workers are some of the lowest-wage workers in hospitals, and more likely than medical staff to be black or Latino. While emergency room nurses and other front-line workers had to reuse N95 masks in the early weeks of the pandemic, nonmedical workers often had even less personal protective equipment, according to union leaders and employees who spoke with the Times. Early mandates for PPE focused mostly on clinical workers, and some New York City hospitals didn't require all workers to wear masks until a state order took effect April 15.
Victims include hospital janitorial staff, greeters, chefs, security guards, people who moved patients around the hospital, and those who checked patients' medical records and assigned beds. Their deaths have not been as publicly recognized as others, according to the Times.
Read the full report here.