The federal agency was grossly incompetent because there was no leadership. The supplies order didn't match the need. Ordering supplies for a medical emergency is fine AFTER the initial distribution of national stockpiles fill the need for PPE. The SUPPLY CHAIN WAS BROKEN IN EVERY WAY POSSIBLE LONG PAST THE INITIAL SHORTFALL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY.
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room (click here)
March 23, 2020
6:11 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. And I see we have fewer people because of the virus problem, and we appreciate you being here. And this is getting to be more and more social distancing, and that’s fine. That’s the way it should be, and it’s too bad. We extend our best wishes to the person affected. And we feel sure that he or she will be better very soon.
And thank you for being here. America continues to mobilize every segment of our society to turn the tide in the battle against the virus. I want Americans to know that we will get through this challenge. The hardship will end; it will end soon. Normal life will return. And our economy will rebound very, very strongly. But, right now, in the midst of this great national trial, Americans must remain united in purpose and focused on victory.
To every single American, please know that the sacrifice you’re making at this time is saving lives — many, many lives. It’s very important that we totally protect our Asian American community in the United States and all around the world. They’re amazing people, and the spreading of the virus is not their fault in any way, shape, or form. They’re working closely with us to get rid of it. We will prevail together. It’s very important.
From the beginning, we have been working closely with our nation’s best scientists and medical professionals, and we will continue to do so until we have defeated the virus. Our public health experts, who are terrific, are studying the variation in the disease across the country, and we will be using data to recommend new protocols to allow local economies to cautiously resume their activity at the appropriate time.
We also have a large team working on what the next steps will be once the medical community gives a region the okay — meaning the okay to get going, to get back; let’s go to work.
Our country wasn’t built to be shut down. This is not a country that was built for this. It was not built to be shut down.
My administration continues to work with Democrats and Republicans to reach an agreement on an urgent relief bill for the millions of American workers and small businesses and large businesses that were badly affected by the medical difficulty that we’ve had.
If you had a viable business in January, we are committed to ensuring the same is true in the coming weeks. In fact, we want to make it even better than it was before, and we’re doing things to help in that regard.
America will again, and soon, be open for business — very soon — a lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting. A lot sooner. We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. We’re not going to let the cure be worse than the problem.
At the end of the 15-day period, we’ll make a decision as to which way we want to go, where we want to go, the timing. And essentially, we’re referring to the timing of the opening — essentially, the opening of our country, because we have it pretty well shut down in order to get rid of this invisible enemy.
Two weeks ago, we moved at record speed to pass paid sick leave and paid family medical leave and approve $8 billion, including money for the development of treatments and vaccines. And we’re doing tremendous work in both — on both fronts. The vaccines are coming along very quickly.
Now Congress must demonstrate the same bipartisanship again and join together to pass the Senate bill as written, and avoid playing any more partisan games. They have to get together and just stop with the partisan politics. And I think that’s happening. I got a call a little while ago; I guess they’re getting closer. It should go quickly and must go quickly. It’s not really a choice. They don’t have a choice. They have to make a deal. This should not be a time for political agendas but rather one for focusing solely and squarely on the needs of the American people.
We are going to save American workers, and we’re going to save them quickly. And we’re going to save our great American companies, both small and large. This was a medical problem. We are not going to let it turn into a long-lasting financial problem. It started out as a purely medical problem, and it’s not going to go beyond that. We’re just not going to allow that to happen.
Our country was at its strongest financial point. We’ve never had an economy like we had just a few weeks ago, and then it got hit with something that nobody could have ever thought possible. And we are fixing it. We’re fixing it quickly. And I want to just thank the American people for what they’ve been through and what they’re doing.
Our country will be stronger than ever before, and we fully anticipate that. And it won’t be that long.
Let me provide you with an update on critical supplies: FEMA is distributing
8 million N95 respirator masks and
13.3 million surgical masks across the country right now, focusing on the areas with the greatest need.
We have shipped
73 pallets of personal protective equipment to New York City and
36 pallets to the State of Washington.
I don't know how many items are on a pallet. I think that is deceptive. March 29 was shortly after the remarks by the president. The numbers don't add up.
(click here)
As of April 21, Project Airbridge has completed 70 flights (each flight has the capacity of one over the road truck load) with an additional 46 scheduled. Two flights landed in Chicago yesterday, with four flights scheduled to land today: two in Chicago, one at JFK (NY) and one at LAX.
Through Project Airbridge, the following supplies have been delivered from overseas manufacturers to the U.S. and into private sector supply chains from March 29 to April 19:
- More than 760,000 N95 masks. The most important aspect of PPE, masks are even close to 8 million N95. There was also a high degree of incompetent procurement because they were only interested in numbers and not quality.
June 12, 2020 by Yeganeh Torbati and Derek Willis
...In scrambling (click here) to buy protective equipment for the coronavirus pandemic, federal agencies purchased up to $11 million worth of Chinese-made masks, often with little attention to manufacturing details or rapidly evolving regulatory guidance about safety or quality, a ProPublica review shows.
Some agencies cannot say who made their masks at a time when thousands of foreign-made respirators appeared on the market, some falsely claiming approval or certification by the Food and Drug Administration. Some agencies bought the masks, known as KN95s, from companies that share a U.S. representative with another firm recently accused of fraud by the Justice Department.
The contracts reflect the intense pressure federal agencies were under to procure protective equipment as the pandemic surfaced and rapidly spread in the U.S. Now, some experts worry that the products could remain in circulation long past the crisis and be used by unsuspecting federal employees who believe they have legitimate respirator masks....
- More than 608 million gloves.
- More than 52 million surgical masks.
- More than 7.4 million surgical gowns.
- Nearly 2.1 million thermometers.
- More than 562,000 face shields.
To date, FEMA has obligated $5.7 billion in support of COVID-19 efforts. In the last 24 hours, that figure includes:
- $30 million to California.
- $2 million to Colorado.
- $6.5 million to Louisiana....
