(WWJ) Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit has been at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak -- and the controversy over healthcare workers struggling to save patients while working in extremely harsh conditions without enough support, equipment and protective gear.

In the latest salvo, staff at the hospital says they were sent home early Monday for protesting the conditions under which they were working.

Others claim they walked off the job.

A video of the nurses leaving the premises was posted early this morning on Facebook from a staffer who wrote, "Those nurses staged a sit in inside a break room in the hospital, voicing their opinions on the state of care at the hospital. They hadn't signed into work yet. They did not leave on their own accord, the management then ordered them to leave the premises. DEMS is not being redirected and continues to convey patients to the hospital.

"The day shift remains on duty, unfortunately for them it's turned into an incredibly long day. The below video is from the nurses who were told to leave. What comes next is anyone's guess."

"We are understaffed ... They want us to go out there and accept 68 patients and multiple vents so everybody left, they basically told us to leave," one nurse said on the video, adding there were only six nurses on hand for the entire shift.

"You don't need to bring the hammer down," one nurse said, complaining they were sent home.

Detroit has been one of the hardest places in the country by the coronavirus, with 38 deaths from the coronavirus on Sunday alone, which brought the city’s death toll to 167.

The hospital has had three straight weeks with 110 patients, with an average of eight nurses left at night to handle all those cases, a staffer said.

"It's not right," he added, saying on one recent night there were two nurses for 26 patients.

On the video, a nurse called it "craziness." "It's nuts," she said.

Another nurse said he was working after testing positive for coronavirus until management sent him home with the night nurses Monday.

The DMC Monday afternoon released the following statement regarding the incident:

“We know this is a very challenging time for caregivers. Our doctors and nurses continue to demonstrate their commitment and dedication to our patients. We are disappointed that last night a very small number of nurses at Sinai Grace Hospital staged a work stoppage in the hospital refusing to care for patients. Despite this, our patients continued to receive the care they needed as other dedicated nurses stepped in to provide care.”