Chinese medical workers wearing protective gear on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan have been wearing adult diapers to relieve themselves during their grueling shifts, according to a report.

“When doctors and nurses are in the ward, they cannot eat, drink or go to the bathroom,” Han Ding, deputy director of Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, said in Wuhan, the South China Morning Post reported.

“Just in case they must urinate, they [wear a] diaper, and wash up after they’re done with their shift,” added Han, one of hundreds of doctors sent to help medical efforts in the epicenter city.

As of Thursday, the disease — known as Covid-19 — has killed at least 1,370 people and infected more than 50,000 others.

The workers also must cope with skin irritations from their protective masks, according to the news outlet.

“Wearing the protective suits is extremely uncomfortable,” said Ma Xin, deputy dean of Huashan Hospital in Shanghai.

“Sometimes I want to itch, but we absolutely cannot do that, so we just have to bear it. Our doctors and nurses all have signs of irritation and even bloody marks on the bridges of their noses,” she added.

Nurses were working shifts of up to six straight hours in intensive care units, while doctors were working up to eight hours and even longer, Han said.

“Doctors and nurses are wearing their equipment so long you can see the marks on their faces,” said Zhou Jun, an official at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing who was deployed to Tongji hospital in Wuhan.

Meanwhile, some nurses are shaving their heads to reduce the risk of cross-contamination, according to Business Insider.

A video posted by China’s state-run People’s Daily shows nurses from the Shaanxi province shaving their heads before shipping out to Wuhan.

As well as limiting the ways pathogens can spread, being bald makes it easier to put on and take off protective suits, according to a video posted by the official Xinhua news agency.

“I think it is a strain for every doctor and every nurse in Wuhan, both physically and mentally,” a Beijing-based medical worker named Candice Qin told the Washington Post.

“We know that patients are worried, but we should bear in mind that doctors are just as human as well,” she said.