The federal government’s haphazard approach to distributing its limited supplies
States with the fewest cases of coronavirus got the biggest per capita distributions of supplies, a USA TODAY Network analysis found.
Alaska and Wyoming, for example, each received more than 70,000 of the N95 respirator masks thought to be the best protection for medical workers, the report shows. Neither state had more than 230 cases by Thursday, according to the latest figures by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s more than 300 respirators for each COVID-19 patient. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2020/04/10/rare-look-stockpile-shows-which-states-got-supplies-amid-covid/5126900002/
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Wyoming and Alaska each have Republican governors. Illinois and Michigan, under heavy pressure and with Democratic governors, did not fare too well from the Stockpile for quite some time.
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4-12 Apple CEO Tim Cook donated and delivered 100,000 N95 masks to the state of Illinois this weekend.
“We are so grateful for the generosity of companies near and far stepping up to support their fellow Americans, especially supporting the heroes of Illinois,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at his daily press briefing Sunday.
Earlier this month, Cook and Apple Inc. donated more than 20 million face masks worldwide and began manufacturing one million face shields a week.
“This is a truly global effort and we’re working with governments at all levels to ensure these are donated to places of greatest need,” Cook explained in video he posted on Twitter. https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/apple-ceo-tim-cook-donates-100000-n95-masks-to-illinois/2254662/
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McDonald’s said it has been coordinating with its global network of suppliers to help local communities and was able to procure the masks from a Chinese supplier. The company previously donated $1 million and 400,000 KF94 masks, the Korean equivalent of N95s, to Illinois’ COVID-19 relief fund….McDonald’s plans to donate 750,000 N95’s to the city of Chicago and 250,000 to the state of Illinois. https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-mcdonalds-donates-n95-masks-to-illinois-20200406-pl4ocyfk2jcutbztchn6dzakom-story.html
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Gov. Kelly (D) submitted seven requests for millions of masks, gowns and gloves that went unheeded until a reporter asked Pence about the situation in a briefing. Pence pledged to call her….
Trump has faced withering criticism that he failed to adequately prepare the country for the coronavirus outbreak after receiving warnings as early as January. Since then, the administration has struggled to provide states with enough tests and provide the proper medical equipment for patients and first responders.
Trump initially indicated states should try to buy supplies themselves, but they found themselves competing with each other and the federal government as they scoured the globe for supplies. The president then said he would distribute some supplies, but a failure to start the process earlier and put a single agency in charge exacerbated manufacturing and distribution problems, according to local, state and federal officials….
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday at a briefing “I’m trying to figure out how to do business with China where I have no natural connection as a state. And every state has to scramble to find business connections with China. It was crazy, that can’t happen again.”…
Hospitals are so desperate for supplies they are taking protective masks from auto-body shops and nail salons. They’re also reusing masks, face shields and gowns, while simultaneously limiting interaction with patients, according to a report by the Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general….The White House has repeatedly defended its supply distribution process….
At the outset of the crisis, Trump followed a decade-old federal disaster response playbook for a flu epidemic that put states in charge of initial response, said Craig Fugate, a former FEMA administrator….Governors and Congress pressured the federal government to take a more active role and tap FEMA to play a greater role.
For weeks Trump was reluctant. He was wary of declaring a national emergency and putting FEMA in charge, worried about generating public and economic panic. But on March 13, Trump relented, though he never mentioned FEMA in his announcement. His decision came seven weeks after the first U.S. case and days after the coronavirus was declared a global pandemic….Trump has criticized some governors for not being better prepared.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/13/states-baffled-coronavirus-supplies-trump-179199
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