LIKE SOLDIERS WITHOUT KIT..

cial guidance can be bolstered by government supplies.

“While this new guidance lays out that FFP2 masks can offer protection similar to the levels from a surgical face mask, the same issue remains – that we will not have access to large enough stocks of these to use as an alternative.”

A Midlands GP told us: “I’m reusing masks. We were down to two days’ supply of PPE at one point.”

Some 1,620 doctors working in hospitals or GP practices said they had no access to eye protection. Another 706 reported having no fluid-repellent face masks, 893 no scrubs and 522 no goggles. On top of that 107 said they had no gloves, 176 no long-sleeved gowns, 210 no aprons, 154 no full-face visors, 174 no FFP2 respirators and 68 had no FFP3 type masks.

Kenneth Sazuze, whose nurse wife Elsie lost her life to Covid-19 last month, said: “It’s shameful and unbelievable. I cannot imagine British soldiers running out of equipment in the middle of a war.

“I can’t imagine them being told, ‘Unfortunately we can’t continue because we have no ammunition’. My wife mentioned a lack of PPE. Every nurse complains but no one listens.”

A total of 955 medics said they had experienced shortages of oxygen. We told last month how hundreds were warning supplies were drying up.

A further 917 doctors were running low on sedatives such as propofol, 1,244 needed opioids while 1,073 were short of painkillers such as paracetamol.

An ICU doctor working at a London hospital said the critical care unit ran out of gowns nine days ago.

She said: “I have had to treat patients without a gown on. What are we meant to do? One member of staff has stopped coming to work because her mum has type 2 diabetes and without PPE, she’s terrified she’ll end up infecting her.”

“My partner is young but has underlying conditions and I often find myself standing in front of a patient, knowing I’m not protected enough. It’s like you’re on auto-pilot and hoping for the best.”

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has vowed to raise the issue in the Commons tomorrow.

He said: “Day after day we hear alarming reports. The least our staff deserve is the equipment they need.”

The Health and Safety Executive has had 54 reports of coronavirus deaths in health and care settings and is reportedly considering criminal probes.

It comes as 100,000 people signed an open letter to Boris Johnson demanding a public inquiry into the deaths of healthcare workers and PPE shortages.

The Sunday Mirror has approached the Department of Health and Social Care for comment.