As the number of detected COVID-19 cases in the US nears 6,500 and deaths reached 115 on March 18, healthcare workers are already being hit hard by the pandemic sweeping the country.

Dozens have fallen ill, and many more are in quarantine. At least two emergency physicians are in critical condition.

“I am deeply saddened by this news, but not surprised,” William Jaquis, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said in a statement. “This virus is dangerous, and its impact is still unfolding. As emergency physicians, we answer the call to care for our most vulnerable, even at great personal risk.”

Jaquis urged ACEP members to stay vigilant and “meticulously follow the recommended precautions to protect yourself.”

One of the main sources of anxiety for many healthcare professionals, though, is a possible lack of precautions and access to personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks and gowns.

In a survey earlier this month of more than 6,500 nurses in 48 states, only 63 percent said they had access to N95 respirators. Moreover, only 29 percent said their hospitals had plans in place to isolate possible COVID-19 cases, and only 44 percent said their employer had provided them with guidance on how to respond to potential COVID-19 cases. The survey was conducted by National Nurses United, a nationwide union of nurses.

Of the two doctors in critical condition, one is a man in his 40s in Washington state who was working at EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland. The area is at the center of one of the country’s largest COVID-19 outbreaks. The man, who is reportedly in critical but stable condition, had access to and complied with appropriate PPE procedures, the ACEP said. It’s unclear if the doctor contracted the virus while working or from community transmission.

The other in critical condition is a physician in his 70s in Patterson, New Jersey. The doctor led his institution’s emergency preparedness. He is in isolation in an intensive care unit.

Preparations

There is no official national tally of COVID-19 cases among healthcare workers. But an unnamed source in the federal government told The Washington Post that officials have received reports of more than 60 infections among healthcare workers. The source said more than a dozen are related to travel, but authorities were investigating how the others became sick.

Hundreds more in various healthcare systems around the country are in quarantine. One medical center in Massachusetts placed 160 employees in quarantine this week after exposure to a patient with COVID-19, for instance. The mass quarantined led the center to hire 54 new nurses.

The country-wide lag in testing for COVID-19 has also been a large source of anxiety for healthcare workers, particularly those in emergency rooms. With little testing and community spread of COVID-19 in many places, doctors don’t know if people coming to emergency rooms for various issues may be infected.

The dicey situation overall has led some doctors to consider going in on Airbnbs to share so they don’t have to go home between shifts and risk infecting their children, according to a report in The New York Times. Others are preparing their partners for the possibility that they, too, may end up in an intensive care unit.