Nurses read out the names of colleagues who died coronavirus during a protest in front of the White House.

Members of the National Nurses United (NNU) union staged the demonstration on Tuesday to demand the government supply healthcare workers with adequate personal protective equipment.

One nurse said: “We remember the thousands of nurses and other healthcare workers that have become infected with Covid-19, and those who have died.”

She added: “We are demanding that the Trump administration and the US Congress listen to these names, all dedicated nurses, who have left families, friends, and colleagues behind.

“Listen to their names and take action so more nurses don’t get sick and die.”

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In a statement announcing their intention to protest on Monday, NNU denounced the Trump administration’s response to PPE as a failure.

It said: “With the failure of the Trump administration to protect health care workers, NNU is demanding that Congress include a mandatory Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency standard in its next Covid-19 legislative package.”

The union urged Donald Trump to use the Defence Production Act “to produce the equipment and supplies health care workers need” and ”to conduct mass testing that is required to control the spread of the virus”.

Last week, a group of nurses based at the Providence Saint John’s Health Centre in Santa Monica, California, were suspended after they refused to treat coronavirus patients without PPE, when one of their colleagues tested positive for Covid-19.

They had previously asked for masks to be supplied to them, but were told by hospital administrators that they were not necessary, according to the Associated Press.

In a statement, the health centre said that “it’s no secret there is a national shortage.”