According to a medical professional in my family who have close friends that have worked on the front line of epidemics, the high grade protective gears are like space suits, it takes close to an hour just to put them on and make sure they’re airtight, and taking them off takes even longer due to the significant risk of inflection (compared to when you put on a clean set) if you don’t take extreme care. Then there’s shower and stuff. You can’t eat or drink anything during the entire process, including the four to six hour shift in between putting on and taking off, and not surprisingly it’s extra taxing to work in the suits. Therefore, even if there are enough protective gear, fully equipping them basically cuts the available labor force by half, which is already heavily strained.