A nationwide shortage of protective equipment that prompted hospital workers in Seattle to craft their own masks out of supplies bought at Home Depot is also forcing health care workers in the Bay Area to take drastic measures and prepare for the worst, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow.

Doctors and nurses in Bay Area hospitals are rationing and repeatedly reusing the most-protective masks, known as N-95s, sharing goggles and, in some cases, settling for less protective gear when dealing with patients being treated for coronavirus symptoms.

The lack of protective gear — exacerbated by a citizen buying spree as the pandemic spread — has been an enduring problem, despite statements by President Trump on Thursday that “there are millions of masks being made” and “many are available now.”

“All supplies of personal protective equipment are in short supply,” said Brent Andrew, spokesman for San Francisco General Hospital, referring to masks, eye protection, gowns, gloves and other protective gear. “At the same time that we’re needing to draw on our resources we’re having fewer resources to draw upon. ... We’re contingency planning, I think everybody is, it would be irresponsible not to.”

The worry is that hospitals will completely run out of N-95 masks if the disease spreads as fast as projected over the next few weeks, leaving medical staff exposed to the virus and liable to become sick themselves.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention responded to the crisis by updating its guidelines and allowing health care workers to use bandanas, scarves or “homemade masks” to cover their faces “as a last resort” while treating COVID-19 patients.

It is what prompted medical workers in Washington state to make 500 homemade masks out of vinyl, tape, foam and elastic purchased at a Home Depot. Bay Area physicians and doctors have discussed among themselves on social media the possibility of making similar masks out of clothes and pillowcases.

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The CDC’s remarkable directive was alarming to many medical professionals who have been expecting more supplies, particularly after Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that manufacturers are producing 35 million new masks, many of which are already available.

Health care professionals at most of the large medical centers in the Bay Area and around California say they have not yet received those supplies.

On Thursday afternoon about 30 registered nurses protested outside the Kaiser Permanente hospital on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco, demanding that their employer raise what they say are dangerously relaxed standards. The nurses say they have been forced to reuse masks and goggles and expect to run out of fresh gloves within days.

“It’s frightening to come to work,” said Pam Fulton, a registered nurse. “Everybody’s frightened. You’re thinking, ‘am I going to lose my life today?’ We don’t even have the proper equipment.”

The staff was told regulations were relaxed because the CDC no longer deems COVID-19 to be an “airborne” virus, meaning droplets are less likely to float in the air and infect doctors and nurses. That contradicts a study this week indicating that this particular coronavirus can linger in the air for as long as three hours.

Hospital administrators said the health and safety of patients, staff and the community is the health care company’s top priority as officials prepare for projected increases in patient volume over the next few weeks.

“The protocols that Kaiser Permanente is using to care for patients suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 are aligned with the latest science and guidance from public health authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said Dr. Stephen Parodi, an infectious disease physician with The Permanente Medical Group in Northern California and the lead physician for Kaiser Permanente’s national coronavirus response. “These protocols, and personal protective equipment, have been reviewed and approved by our infectious disease experts and are in use by the major hospital systems in California and the U.S.”

Deb Quinto, a registered nurse at Kaiser San Francisco who organized the rally with the California Nurses Association, said the protest was about what they say are dangerously lax safety standards. Nurses at Kaiser are now being asked to wear the same masks and eye protection around multiple patients, increasing the risk of cross-contamination, Quinto said.

“We want to make sure people know that when the nurses aren’t safe, the people aren’t safe,” she said.

Kaiser isn’t alone. The UCSF medical center is down to a two-week supply of masks, goggles and other protective equipment available for doctors and nurses taking care of COVID-19 patients. Workers there said they are also reusing masks designated for one-time use.

It’s also happening at Sutter Health hospitals.

“We are really trying to minimize any re-use of any protective equipment, but there are things like masks that you can use for more than one patient visit,” said Dr. Robert Nordgren, the area CEO for Sutter Bay Medical Foundation in the Peninsula and San Francisco region.

“That’s where these respiratory clinics come in,” Nordgren said, referring to the outdoor clinics Palo Alto Medical Foundation has set up at several locations where it accepts drive-by visits from patients with respiratory symptoms.

“We can have staff people who essentially stay in protective equipment, like gowns, for a more prolonged period of time because they’re not coming in and out of exam rooms,” he said. “They’re largely being done outdoors and parking lots, open space. So most of our staff can then stay in most of their protective equipment for prolonged periods of time.”

Desperate to replenish their hospitals’ dwindling supplies of protective masks, physicians and nurses are turning to friends, neighbors, social media and the public to try to drum up any spare masks they can.

Some are exploring the possibility of seeking masks from construction and paint companies, whose workers use masks to filter out dust and fumes.

Not all hospitals accept donated supplies, but the GNC retail store in San Francisco’s Marina District is accepting supplies for Kaiser doctors, and San Francisco General Hospital is accepting supplies for its staff.

“It’s a big problem because medical professionals need them for the airborne particles flying around near patients in hospitals,” said Serafin Mendoza, respiratory equipment specialist at ITC Medical Supplies, on Geary Boulevard in San Francisco, which has been out of N95 masks for many weeks and doesn’t expect to get anymore until the end of April.

“Everybody is in the same situation,” he said. “It will be hard to find any company right now that actually has them in stock.”

Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified Dr. Robert Nordgren. He is the area CEO for the Sutter Bay Medical Foundation in the Peninsula and San Francisco region.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Catherine Ho, Erin Allday and Rachel Swan contributed to this report.

Peter Fimrite, Megan Cassidy and Matthias Gafni are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com, megan.cassidy@sfchronicle.com, matthias.gafni@sfchronicle.com.com Twitter: @pfimrite, @meganrcassidy, @mgafni