Glastonbury festival has confirmed it donated “several thousand” ponchos to hospitals in the south-west of England, which have been searching for alternatives to personal protective equipment (PPE) as supplies run out across the country.
Emily Eavis, co-organiser, told the Guardian via a spokesperson that the festival, which cancelled its 2020 edition because of the pandemic, had given the disposable garments to “hospitals in the West Country” as PPE stocks dwindle.
Eavis confirmed the claim that had been circulating on social media that a “large well-known summer festival” was asked if it had “any ponchos going spare”, because the NHS could not source enough aprons and PPE.
The news will add pressure on the government as it attempts to fulfil the demand for PPE from NHS and care workers, after reports that the UK missed three opportunities to be part of an EU scheme to bulk-buy masks, gowns and gloves.
In the Downing Street press conference at 2pm on Wednesday, a spokesman implied that EU rules were partly to blame for VAT being charged on PPE.
The spokesman added that the Health and Safety Executive and Public Health England were looking at how rules could be relaxed to allow some PPE items to be reused, after reports that some hospitals have already begun cleaning single-use gowns to preserve stocks.
The health secretary, Matt Hancock, was criticised by doctors’ and nurses’ leaders after he urged NHS staff last week not to overuse PPE. “We need everyone to treat PPE like the precious resource it is,” he said on Friday. “Everyone should use the equipment they clinically need, in line with the guidelines: no more and no less.”
Frontline staff have cited a shortage of PPE, such as gowns, since the pandemic started, with the Health Care Supply Association issuing a warning of “serious supply issues” regarding PPE in hospitals as far back as the end of March.
Glastonbury festival confirmed on 18 March that the event – which would have celebrated its 50th anniversary year in 2020 with headliners including Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar – was off.
The festival had taken a business-as-usual approach until only a few days before cancelling, but said “following the new government measures… and in times of such unprecedented uncertainty – this is now our only viable option”.
