In a protest designed to adhere to social-distancing, 1,000 pop-up signs were arranged on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol Building showing the faces of nurses and frontline healthcare workers pleading for adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) on April 17, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Overwhelmed healthcare workers across the country are taking to the streets to demand safer working conditions and more personal protection equipment to help them fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Nurses and doctors on the frontlines are asking federal and state governments as well as hospitals to do more to protect staff and want more PPE to ensure their safety while on the job.

With widespread shortages of the vital N95 respirator masks, face shields, gloves and fluid-resistant gowns, federal and state governments are partnering with the private sector to produce and distribute more PPE to frontline workers.

The following are scenes from some of the protests around the country by healthcare workers on the frontlines: