SANTA MONICA, Calif. — "Hundreds of times a day" — that’s how often Wendy Macedo said she slathers her hands with sanitizer.

Macedo is a registered nurse at UC Los Angeles Santa Monica Medical Center, where she works in the medical/surgical telemetry unit. Just recently, her unit was converted to include a COVID-positive cases — as many as six or seven on any given day. Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are on the rise in L.A. county, along with her risk of exposure, she feels.

"It’s a very stressful time, super-high anxiety right now," said Macedo.

It doesn’t look like things will slow down any time soon. In fact, with flu season looming on the horizon, she fears it will further confuse the situation, since many of the symptoms are the same. Testing will become more vital than ever "because we’re not going to know what we’re dealing with, and we need to know," she said.

On Tuesday, Macedo stood with fellow nurses calling on UCLA Health to expand testing among nurses. If UCLA has the resources to test football players daily, she explained, they should be able to test nurses when they feel they’ve been exposed or are showing symptoms.

“We are deemed essential workers from the beginning,” Macedo said, surrounded by colleagues holding red "PROTECT" signs. “We deserve to be treated with the same respect as our athletes.”

Members of the California Nurse Association, which organized the event, also claim nurses have been refused tests when they’ve directly asked for them.

“We are being exposed to positive COVID patients on a daily basis,” said Macedo. “We are not getting the adequate testing to reassure us that we don’t come out with this virus.”

UC Los Angeles Health sent Spectrum News 1 a statement, saying:

"The safety of our nurses, other employees and our patients is UCLA Health’s overriding priority." They say free testing is available for employees with symptoms or who have had close contact with someone who has tested positive. "These protocols are consistent with guidelines established by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to minimize spread."

Meanwhile, positive cases are on the rises in L.A. County, where officials with the Department of Public Health say the number of new cases went from just over 750 per day in mid-September to almost 1,400 a day in late October. They also announced plans to send community health workers into areas with the biggest increases, like Pacoima and Sun Valley.

It’s the same part of the San Fernando Valley where Macedo also lives.

“I go to work. I’m exposed. I come home, and my community is increasing,” she said. “So I would say definitely….it’s definitely a double whammy.”

She explained that she tries to leave home as little as possible but that means not seeing her mom. The two are very close, and her mom wants to visit every day, but without regularly testing, Macedo says she just doesn’t think it’s safe.

“It gives me a lot of sadness, but I also don’t want to get her sick because if I get her sick, it would break my heart,” she said.  “I could not bear it if she ends up in a hospital and I am not even allowed to visit her.”

Macedo thinks nurses should be tested weekly, or better yet, daily, for their safety and the safety of the community. Plus, she stresses the need for self-care. It’s a stressful time that could get more stressful over the holidays, and if nurses aren’t able to protect their own health, she says, they won’t be able to take care of their patients.