Nurses were denied protective gear and virus testing at their own hospitals, union says.

One nurse said her boss told her to come to work even though she had reported having symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. Another said she was denied virus testing at her own hospital. Other nurses said they had received only one N95 mask to use for a week.

The claims, by nurses in New York, were included in lawsuits filed on Monday accusing the state Health Department and two hospital systems of failing to equip nurses with adequate protective gear and of exposing them to unsafe working conditions amid the virus outbreak.

The lawsuits, filed in state and federal court in New York by the largest nurses’ union in New York, were one of the largest collective legal actions taken against hospitals since the pandemic began. In addition to the state Health Department, the defendants were Montefiore Medical Center and Westchester Medical Center.

The union, the New York State Nurses Association, said that at least eight nurses had died in New York State after contracting the virus at work, and at least 84 had been hospitalized. The union has more than 42,000 members.

Another accusation leveled by the union was that some nurses who had tested positive for the virus were required to return to work after seven days, half the 14-day quarantine period recommended by health officials.

In one of the suits, the union asks the court to issue an order directing state health officials to “ensure the immediate provision of sufficient PPE to nurses and health care personnel,” referring to personal protective equipment like masks and impermeable gowns.

A Montefiore spokeswoman said union leaders had “chosen to attack a system, and the commitment of thousands of their colleagues, who have followed the governor’s emergency orders and are selflessly doing all they can to fight Covid-19 and save lives.”