WHO: Healthcare workers are being attacked with rocks and bleach for treating coronavirus patients. Some have stopped wearing uniforms to stay safe.

• Healthcare workers on the front lines of the world's coronavirus response are being attacked, hit with rocks, sprayed with bleach, kicked out of their homes, spit on, and denied rides to work.
• The World Health Organization said in April there were more than 35 "serious" incidents, in 11 countries.
• "Sometimes this happens because of misunderstanding and lack of information and education," the WHO's Mike Ryan said. "And then other times, this is senseless acts of violence and discrimination."
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Even as healthcare workers are being applauded as coronavirus heroes without capes, they're also getting attacked and hurt, even rendered homeless, for being on the frontlines of COVID-19 response and caring for sick people.

In the Philippines, a nurse on his way to the hospital was hit in the face with bleach, while others have been splashed with chlorine.

Healthcare workers in India who were wearing their scrubs in the street had stones hurled their way, as they ran for cover.

Many nurses in Mexico have simply stopped wearing their uniforms while commuting to work for fear of attack, and Australian healthcare workers have been told not to wear their scrubs in public anymore, after some were spat on and assaulted.

"I have worn my nurse's uniform for 27 years with great pride – as do doctors," Fabiana Zepeda, the head of nursing for the Mexican Social Security Institute told reporters in April. "But today we are taking off our uniforms because we don't want to be injured."

The violence against healthcare workers is not limited to Mexico, Australia, India, or the Philippines.

"Just in April alone, we've noted more than 35 incidents in over 11 countries," the World Health Organization Executive Director of Health Emergencies Mike Ryan said during a press conference on Wednesday, characterizing the attacks the WHO has logged around the globe recently as "quite serious sort of events."

"COVID-19 is bringing out the best in us, but it's also bringing out some of the worst," Ryan said.

Some hospitals in China are now teaching healthcare workers self-defense, the Economist recently reported.

Even as people open their windows and stand on their balconies to cheer on healthcare workers each night, some nurses and doctors in the US have been kicked out of their homes by landlords who fear they might spread the virus to others in their buildings. At least one street vendor in the Philippines had a written sign refusing to serve their food to hospital workers, Al Jazeera reported, and many healthcare workers now have trouble getting a ride to work, because rideshare drivers and buses are scared to pick them up. Some have started using bikes and scooters to get to their jobs.

"People are feeling empowered to take out their frustrations on individuals who are purely trying to help, and help communities," Ryan said. "I think we have to be sensitive to the fact that sometimes this happens because of misunderstanding and lack of information and education. And then other times, this is senseless acts of violence and discrimination."

It's not the first time that healthcare workers have been seen as vectors of disease, and used as vehicles to weaponize people's fears about infection.

At least seven healthcare workers treating ebola patients were murdered in 2018 and 2019. Healthcare workers giving out polio vaccines in Pakistan, hoping to eradicate that disease from the Earth once and for all, have also been attacked and killed.

"We beg those people who have attacked doctors and nurses to reconsider," Zepeda said. "We could end up saving your lives."