Russian medical staff say they are finding themselves on the frontline of a disinformation campaign that continues to play out on state television, despite the fact that coronavirus cases in the country have multiplied by almost four times in the past week.

Employees at one Moscow hospital readying itself to house COVID-19 cases told Coda Story that before the arrival of a film crew from the Kremlin-controlled Channel 1, they were forced to prepare an intensive care unit for the cameras. Veronika Skovortsova, the head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, went live from the unit the next day to announce how new, Russian-made technology allows for “up to four patients at a time” to be hooked up to one ventilator.

The government has promised the hospital 12 new machines. However, speaking on condition of anonymity, one staff member said that medical personnel have no training on how to use this technology.

“I am scared to go to work,” the employee said. “It’s only on the airwaves that everything is so beautiful. We have no idea how to even operate this new system.”