Objective To provide theoretical basis for the reasonable selection of personal protective equipment by analyzing the willingness of protection and the contamination of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 of medical staff in the designated hospital for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019. Methods The medical staff of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine who entered the contaminated area from May 1 to 31, 2022 were collected as the study subjects. A simple random sampling method was adopted to investigate the willingness of protection of different medical staff leaving the cabin. Contamination of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 was detected by fluorescence polymerase chain reaction. Results A total of 70 medical staff were included. There were 61 nurses and 38 in intensive care unit. The survey showed that 47 medical staff chose disposable isolation clothes, 44 medical staff chose protective face screen and 69 medical staff chose double-layer shoe cover/boot cover. A total of 640 specimens were collected. Six positive samples for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 nucleic acid test were detected, with a positive rate of 0.94%. All the positive samples were sampled from the sole of a protective clothing. Six positive samples were willing to choose double-layer shoe cover/boot cover. Conclusions The medical staff in designated hospital for treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 tend to take high protection during daily medical activities. However, personal protective equipment is less likely to be contaminated by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2, and it should be selected rationally to avoid excessive protection.