New York City sent out a push alert to all phones asking licensed healthcare workers to volunteer in overburdened facilities

Sarah Al-Arshani,Sarah Al-Arshani

Apr 4, 2020, 05:38 IST

New York City sent out a push alert to all phones asking licensed healthcare workers to volunteer in overburdened facilities

Atilgan Ozdil/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A general view of the New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan Hospital in New York, United States on August 10, 2019.

New York City sent out a push alert seeking medical volunteers to help in hospitals.
NYC has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US.
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New York City residents got an emergency push alert asking for licensed healthcare workers to volunteer to work in overburdened facilities on Friday.

The city has become the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US with more than 57,000 people infected and over 1,500 deaths.

Those who sign up to help will go through a two-step process to verify their license and be matched in places that need help, the New York City site said.

Healthcare workers in the city and all across the US have spoken about limited medical equipment to treat patients and shortages of personal protective equipment needed to limit medical staff's exposure to the virus when working with COVID-19 patients.

A New York City nurse died after contracting the virus late last month.

Additional measures have been taken to have more healthcare workers working on the frontlines of this coronavirus outbreak. Several medical schools include those at New York University and Columbia University have agreed to have senior medical students graduate early and work in hospitals.

According to NBC Chicago, Illinois also used its emergency alert system to find additional healthcare workers during the outbreak.

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