Govornors, mayors and front-line health care workers confronting rising numbers of critically ill coronavirus patients said Sunday they have not received meaningful amounts of federal aid, including the shipments of desperately needed masks and other emergency equipment that administration officials say they have already dispatched.
“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 bandannas when no mask is available.
A lack of personal protective equipment puts medical personnel at greater risk of becoming infected or placed in quarantine, exacerbating hospitals’ existing staff shortages.
“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.”
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor, whose agency was not activated to run the pandemic response until Friday, painted a more optimistic picture in Sunday morning appearances on ABC and CNN. He said masks and other equipment in the Strategic National Stockpile are well on their way to states — particularly hard-hit areas like Washington and California.
“They have been distributed. They’ve been distributed over the past couple of weeks. They’re shipping today. They’ll ship tomorrow,” Gaynor told ABC. “We are shipping from our national stockpile, we’re shipping from vendors, we’re shipping from donations. It is happening.”
But Gaynor sidestepped repeated questions on exactly how many masks were being shipped and when they would be in the hands of doctors and nurses who need them.
“I can’t give you a rough number,” he said in another interview on CNN, adding that governors should not depend on federal disbursements and should try on their own to obtain masks and other equipment.
“If you find it on the market, go ahead and buy it. FEMA will reimburse you for it,” he said. “This is a shared responsibility.”
Several governors pushed back, warning that pitting states against one another, the federal government, and other countries in a bidding war on the private market is no way to respond to a pandemic that requires a coordinated national response to obtain and allocate emergency goods.
“It’s a wide, Wild West…out there,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said of his attempts to obtain supplies. “And indeed we’re overpaying, I would say, for [personal protective equipment] because of that competition.”
“We need the federal government to get us those test kits,” Whitmer agreed. “We need PPEs. And frankly a patchwork strategy of each state doing what they can is — we’re going to do it if we have to, but it would be nice to have a national strategy.”
Governors, congressional lawmakers and mayors continued to plead with the White House over the weekend to use the powers of the Defense Production Act to speed up manufacture of masks, ventilators and other scarce supplies as many hospitals say they’re set to run out within days.
President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday morning that he has given a handful of car companies “the go ahead” to make ventilators and other unnamed “metal products” for hospitals, but gave no indication of a timeline or quantity. Converting factories from making cars to making medical equipment cannot happen immediately, and could take several months. In the meantime, hospitals need immediate help.
Ford, General Motors and Tesla are being given the go ahead to make ventilators and other metal products, FAST! @fema Go for it auto execs, lets see how good you are? @RepMarkMeadows@GOPLeader@senatemajldr
“We’ve gotten no indication of any factory on 24/7 shifts. We’ve gotten no shipments,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on NBC. “I can’t be blunt enough: If the president does not act, people will die who could have lived otherwise.”
Though Trump signed the defense act last week, Gaynor confirmed that the administration has yet to use it to order any companies to manufacture more products. He suggested such a step wasn’t necessary as companies are already stepping up.
“We haven’t had to use it, because companies around the country, donations, they are saying, ‘What can we do to help you?’ And it’s happening without using that — that lever,” he said. “If it comes to a point where we have to pull the level, we will.”
Both in private calls with the White House and in public interviews, lawmakers are insisting that time is now.
“We cannot wait until people start really dying in large numbers to start production, especially of more complicated equipment like ventilators and hospital beds,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told CNN. “We need to start this production right now to get ready for the surge that is coming in two to three weeks.”
Slideshow by photo services
The world is battling an outbreak of a new coronavirus called COVID-19, which started in the city of Wuhan, China, and has been spreading around the globe, killing thousands. The World Health Organization declared a global pandemic on March 11.
(Pictured) Health workers spray disinfectant on a motorist in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus outbreak in Surabaya, Indonesia, on March 22.
A view of deserted the Bandra-Worli sea link over the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, India on March 22. India is observing a 14-hour “people’s curfew” called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in order to stem the rising coronavirus caseload in the country of 1.3 billion.
Graduates attend the graduation ceremony of the National Defense Academy on March 22 in Yokosuka, Japan. 508 students graduated the military academy which educates and trains future leaders of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces. The ceremony was held behind closed doors amid concern over the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Aircraft sit parked at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany on March 22. Due to the coronavirus the aviation industry expects heavy losses.
Red tape securing the beach at an empty Bondi beach after authorities banned people from gathering on it on March 22 in Sydney, Australia.
A health worker wearing a face mask amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, checks the body temperature of passengers leaving from the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 22.
(L-R) Chelsea Weidinger and Chef Matthew Accarrino of the Michelin-star SPQR restaurant work to fulfill to-go orders after California Governor Gavin Newsom implemented a statewide “stay at home order” directing the state’s 40 million residents to stay in their homes in the face of the fast-spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in San Francisco, California, on March 21.
Cuban doctors take part in a farewell ceremony before departing to Italy to assist, amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Havana, Cuba on March 21.
An empty street near the Pantheon square in Paris, France on March 21.
Brooklyn resident Arthur Adamczyk shares hand sanitizer with his roommate, DJ and event producer Nash Petrovic during a live streamed set from their roof during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Brooklyn, New York, on March 21.
Catholic priest Reginaldo Manzotti prays before a mass with photos of the faithful over the church’s pews at the Santuario de Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe church in Curitiba, Brazil, on March 21.
Local community workers prepare to use a drone loaded with disinfectant to release on streets during the coronavirus outbreak in Talcahuano, Chile, on March 21.
Aerial view of empty roads in Bogota, Colombia, on March 21. Colombian authorities announced a mandatory isolation simulation for the extended weekend, from March 21 to 23, as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus.
DJ Francesco Cellini records people as he plays for them from the rooftop terrace of his apartment building, as Italians remain under lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Monteverde district, Rome, Italy, on March 21.
The moving walkway at Waterloo underground tube station is seen, as people respond to government measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus in London, England, on March 21.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci speaks during a news briefing on the administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak at the White House in Washington, on March 21.
Passengers from the the Costa Luminosa cruise ship that was hit by the coronavirus are led from a ship to buses, at the port of Savona, near Genoa, in Italy, on March 21.
A clergyman of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine packs bottles of hand sanitizer at the Vydubychi Monastery in Kiev, Ukraine on March 21.
Worshippers pray at the St. Agnes Cathedral amid the coronavirus outbreak on March 20 in Rockville Centre, New York.
Russian pianist Denis Matsuyev performs on a stage at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall while preparing for an online broadcast, during a rehearsal in Moscow, Russia on March 20.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he speaks during a daily press conference on March 20 in London, England. During the press conference, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told pubs, cafes, bars, restaurants and gyms to close, whilst Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the government will pay up to 80% of the wages of those unable to work due to the coronavirus.
A general view of an almost deserted street during coronavirus crisis on March 20 in Palermo, Italy.
Sheikh Abdirahman Kaariye, the Imam at the Islamic Center of Bothell, gives a Friday sermon on his computer in the center’s empty prayer hall during the outbreak of coronavirus in Bothell, Washington.
The usually busy avenue running along Nemesio Camacho stadium is empty in Bogota, Colombia on March 20.
A digital sign flashes instructions on how to prevent the spread of coronavirus at the Rockville Centre Train Station on March 20 in Rockville Centre, New York.
President Donald Trump responds to a question by NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House on March 20 in Washington D.C.
A general view of The Den, home of Millwall FC is seen as football in England remains suspended due to the outbreak of the coronavirus on March 20 in London, England.
French police officers patrol on the banks of the Seine on the fourth day after the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron of the confinement of the French due to an outbreak of a coronavirus pandemic on March 20 in Paris, France.
The Los Angeles Convention Center stands idle after new restrictions went into effect as the coronavirus pandemic spreads on March 20.
A general view of an almost deserted street during coronavirus crisis on March 20 in Palermo, Italy.
A view of the Bara Imambara, also known as Asifi mosque closed due to preventive measures against coronavirus on March 20 in Lucknow, India.
People stand apart as they line up to enter a supermarket in Rome, March 20.
A homeless man holds up a sign outside Westminster underground station as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in London, Britain, March 19.
An undated scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow), also known as novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab.
A nurse in protective suit attends to a baby with COVID-19, caused by the coronavirus, at an isolation ward of Wuhan Children’s Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, China March 16.
A combination picture shows residents posing on their balcony and the window of their homes with an object significant to them during the lockdown imposed by the Belgian government in an attempt to slow down the coronavirus outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium on March 19.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a televised speech on the occasion of the Iranian New Year Nowruz, praising doctors and nurses for their courage in fighting against the coronavirus, in Tehran, Iran on March 20.
Military officers stand near parked trucks and ambulances at the premises of the Expo Center, after government declared it a mass isolation center and field hospital following an outbreak of the coronavirus, in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 20.
A military official checks the body temperature of a man before Friday prayers at a mosque in Bali, Indonesia, on March 20.
President Donald Trump, left, and Vice President Mike Pence attend a teleconference with governors at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters on March 19 in Washington, D.C.
A grocery store limits customers to one package of toilet paper per person to prevent hoarding during to the coronavirus outbreak on March 19 in Washington, D.C.
Workers of the Ryongaksan Soap Factory make disinfectant in Pyongyang, North Korea, on March 19.
Municipal Civil Guards ask a beach goer to leave Icarai beach on March 19 in Niteroi, Brazil. Niteroi city officials temporarily closed and restricted beach activities during the coronavirus emergency.
Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, left, and Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance, right, flank British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he speaks during a coronavirus news conference inside No. 10 Downing Street on March 19 in London.
A view of a mostly empty Milton Keynes Intu shopping centre on March 19 in Milton Keynes, England.
A flower shop sells hand sanitizer amid the increasing cases of COVID-19 on March 19 in Buenos Aires.
A shopper walks the aisles carrying a pack of toilet paper at Costco Perth on March 19, in Perth, Australia. The store is limiting toilet paper purchases to one packet per customer in response to panic buying across Australia as fears grow over the COVID-19 pandemic.
A local medical worker embraces and bids farewell to another medical worker from Jiangsu at the Wuhan Railway Station as the medical team from Jiangsu leaves Wuhan, China, on March 19.
Council workers and firemen disinfect a street as a precautionary measure in Quezon City, Philippines, on March 19.
A woman looks at the few items left in the fresh meat and poultry fridges in a supermarket in Johannesburg, South Africa on March 18.
