As cases of COVID-19 continue to soar worldwide, more and more industries are stepping in to provide vital resources to the healthcare providers on the frontlines. In the UK, help has now come from MedFetUK, a private company that specializes in medical fetish gear.
The company announced the donation of its entire stock of disposable scrubs after being contacted by “desperate” officials from the National Health Service (NHS). MedFetUK stated they only had a few sets but they sent those to a hospital in the south of England free of charge.
MedFetUK made the announcement on Twitter, adding that the government claims that the NHS is getting what it needs is a "lie". The company went on to say they have been contacted by NHS procurement representatives from all over the United Kingdom asking for protective equipment and disposable clothing for staff.
“When we, a tiny company set up to serve a small section of the kink community, find ourselves being sought out as a last-resort supplier to our National Health Service in a time of crisis, something is seriously wrong. In fact, it's scandalous,” the company continued in the thread.
“Let's be under no illusions, this is the result of a decade of chronic underfunding and cuts which has left the NHS barely able to cope under normal circumstances, much less when faced with the onslaught of a global pandemic. It did not, and should not, have to be this way.”
They concluded by saying that people should not forget nor forgive how the government “sent the NHS into this battle with inadequate armour and one hand tied behind its back.”
Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said he understood the urgent need for protection, according to The Guardian. Addressing “all those who rely on this equipment, and their families and loved ones,” Jenrick said. “We will not stop until we have got you the equipment you need.”
Jenrick said around 170 million masks, 42.8 million gloves, 13.7 million aprons, 2.3 million pairs of eye protectors, and 182,000 gowns have been provided to healthcare facilities and staff.
As of Sunday, March 30, over 22,000 people in the UK have contracted COVID-19 and 1,408 people of those tested positive have perished. Globally, the cases have now crossed the 750,000 mark, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
