The United States stockpile of personal protective equipment is nearly empty.

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The United States stockpile of personal protective equipment is nearly empty.
President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America

The United States has nearly emptied its emergency stockpile of protective medical supplies like masks, gowns and gloves as state governors continue to plea for protective gear for desperate hospital workers, according to a senior administration official.

The official said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has delivered more than 11.6 million N95 masks, 5.2 million face shields, 22 million gloves and 7,140 ventilators, exhausting the emergency stockpile.

The official said there was a “tiny slice” of personal protective equipment left over that is being preserved for first responders for the federal government.

While there is no more personal protective equipment in the stockpile left over for the states, the senior official said the administration still has more than 9,400 ventilators ready to be deployed.

The dwindling resources have forced the federal government to compete with states and private companies for valuable medical gear across the world. Governors, meanwhile, have continued to try to find ways to scavenge medical supplies for hospital workers exposed to the worsening pandemic.

“Really, the only hope for a state at this point is the federal government’s capacity to deliver,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said Wednesday, going on to discuss the powers that the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law, gives the president to procure vital equipment.

“The Defense Production Act gives the president of the United States power to say to a company: you make this,” Mr. Cuomo said, noting that while much of the discussion about the act had been about making ventilators, which are complex to build, it could also be used for other gear, including hospital gowns.

“Look, you have a shortfall on gowns,” he said. “American companies can make gowns — they’re not like wedding gowns, they’re like paper gowns. Make the gowns, make the gloves, make the masks. You know, why are we running out of these basic supplies?”

Even though the Department of Defense used authorities under the Defense Production Act to place hundreds of thousands of order for military equipment, the Trump administration for weeks was reluctant to use the law, until last Friday, when Mr. Trump said he would use it to prioritize an order of ventilators from General Motors.

Lizzie Litzow, a spokeswoman for FEMA, said the agency had previously acknowledged the Strategic National Stockpile would not be sufficient to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

She said the administration has $16 billion to help boost the low level of protective gear, which was first reported by the Washington Post.

“The federal government will exhaust all means to identify and attain medical and other supplies needed to combat the virus,” Ms. Litzow said.

 

 

Source: The New York Times

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