Nursing homes with urgent needs for personal protective equipment say they’re getting gowns that look more like large tarps – with no holes for hands – and surgical masks that are paper-thin ...

For months, nursing homes have sounded alarms about their lack of access to protective equipment as their residents have proven to be some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

At least 711 nursing homes reported running out of N95 masks at the end of May, and 1,963 said they had less than a week's worth. "The federal government has got to step up," says one advocate.

Nearly 2,000 facilities reported a shortage of nursing staff; more than 2,200 lack enough aides, and more than 500 lack any supply of N95 masks used to prevent infection, according to the data.

Coronavirus cases in nursing homes have skyrocketed, but the facilities have been unable to get enough protective gear and tests, in part because overwhelmed hospitals are getting the supplies first.

That is a sampling of the personal protective equipment sent last month to nursing homes in Wisconsin — not by a sketchy supplier, but by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Nursing homes with urgent needs for personal protective equipment say they’re getting gowns that look more like large tarps – with no holes for hands – and surgical masks that are paper-thin ...

Nursing homes with urgent needs for personal protective equipment say they're getting gowns that look more like large tarps -- with no holes for hands -- and surgical masks that are paper-thin as ...