Whether the hospitals in NY gave appropriate treatment to patients is a totally separate issue from healthcare workers using PPE when in direct contact with patients who are sick with a novel disease. We can certainly discuss whether the treatment was appropriate or effective, but it would be utterly insane to not use PPE when dealing with patients who are infected with a new disease we know nothing about.
No medical association on Earth told people not to use PPE when dealing with COVID-19 patients. None have since either. Faulting them for using PPE around sick patients is unreasonable.
I didn’t say PPE..I said hazmat suits. And these suits had separate air supplies. A hazmat suit is not a mask.