Despite promises from the White House, the whereabouts of the masks remains a mystery. Governors and mayors are begging Washington.
From Politico:
“We are desperate,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told ABC Sunday morning. “We’ve had a big ask into the strategic stockpile in the White House. They’ve given us a fraction of our ask.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer echoed that urgency, saying her state’s hospitals are dealing with about 800 confirmed cases of the virus — up from only one just 12 days ago — and are struggling with serious shortages of both test kits and protective equipment for medical workers. The shortages have forced hospitals to adopt risky practices like reusing masks and having staff wear bandanas when no mask is available.“
“We’ve got to have those masks,” Whitmer said. “Had the federal government really started focusing when it became clear that the whole world was going to be confronting this, we would be in a stronger position right now … Lives will be lost because we weren’t prepared.”
Illinois Governor Pritzker criticized Washington’s response to the crisis and he soon heard, via Twitter, from Donald Trump.
Compounding the confusion is FEMA, the Federal Emergency management Agency has just been invited to join the White House task force. Yesterday, the administrator, Peter Gaynor, said 600 million masks were ordered.