Wow, now he's trying to position the federal government as a backup? That's nuts and is causing mass choas in procurement of supplies as each state is bidding against each other (along with FEMA). Seems that this is where the federal government should step in and be the one procuring supplies and then distributing. Just another area where Trump is trying to deflect blame and not lead...yet, if the death toll is around 100K, he'll consider it a success for himself: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/su...-war-states-federal-agencies-medical-supplies Providers in bidding war with states, federal agencies on medical supplies The billions of tax dollars headed for hospitals and states as part of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus response bill won't fix the problem facing doctors and nurses: a critical shortage of protective gowns, gloves and masks. The problem isn't a lack of money, experts say. It's that there's not enough of those supplies available to buy. What's more, the crisis has revealed a fragmented procurement system now descending into chaos just as demand soars, The Associated Press has found. Hospitals, state governments and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are left bidding against each other and driving up prices. For more than a week, governors have pushed back against administration assurances that supplies are available now, bitterly complaining to President Donald Trump that there's no coordination. "It's pretty much every state for itself," said Virginia's secretary of finance, Aubrey Layne, who is deeply involved with his state's effort to buy medical supplies. Masks that were priced at $2.50 a week ago are now being quoted as high as $9, he said, and suppliers make clear that there are "plenty of people out here" looking to buy, even at the high prices. "There is a lot of opportunism going on," Layne said. Doctors and nurses in hot spots like New York and New Orleans are caring for feverish, wheezing COVID-19 patients without adequate masks, gloves or gowns. Can the $100 billion carved out for hospitals in the stimulus package solve that? "It is not about throwing money at this problem," said Lisa Ellram, a professor of supply chain management at Miami University of Ohio. Just like consumers who today wander past empty shelves in the toilet paper aisle, state governments and hospitals are finding their suppliers' warehouses are bare. The AP reported last week that imports of critical medical supplies were plummeting due to factory closures in China, where manufacturers had been required to sell all or part of their goods internally rather than export to other countries. Now that bottleneck has tightened as the pandemic sweeps through the world, shuttering potential backup factories from one country to the next. Many manufacturers have been ordered to shut down or limit production throughout Southeast Asia and Latin America, including in India and Mexico. In Malaysia, where 75% of the world's medical gloves are made, AP found factories were shut down and only allowed to reopen with half staff, who are now locked in hostels at their workplaces. Shipments of medical gloves are down 23% so far this month compared with 2019, and medical gown imports are down 64% for the same period, according to trade data compiled by Panjiva and ImportGenius, services that track imports and exports. No medical-grade N95 masks, made almost entirely in China, have arrived at U.S. ports so far this month. An Oregon Nurses Association member who spoke on condition of anonymity out of concern for her job said she's allowed one N95 mask a day to protect against tiny particulates. "Wearing the same mask from patient to patient to patient, what are you doing? Are we taking care of them or putting them at greater risk?" she said. A colleague has already tested positive for COVID-19, she said. Her own test was lost so she's being retested. But she continues to work treating patients even though she has minor symptoms. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death. Six weeks ago, the Center for Global Development warned that the U.S. should get ready to rapidly scale-up medical supply manufacturing. Minnesota's 3M Co. was already ramping up, but only in the past week have many others followed. A frenzied push to increase domestic production is too little and too late, said Prashant Yadav, a visiting fellow at the center. Trump on Friday announced that he was using his power under the Defense Production Act to order General Motors to begin manufacturing ventilators—work that had already been underway, AP reported. Yadav said that in addition to more supplies, states and hospitals need a better way to allocate medical supplies to the places they're needed most. "The real challenge is not having a clear dashboard-like function that can help match demand and supply. Just infusing more cash doesn't create that," he said Friday. Before the crisis, hospitals typically bought masks, gloves and other equipment through independent purchasers that bargain with suppliers to keep costs down. But those groups haven't been able to fill orders. Soumi Saha, director of advocacy at Premier, which purchases equipment for roughly 4,000 hospitals, said 56% of hospitals didn't receive their orders for N95 masks in February. She said traditional wholesale markets are depleted and hospitals are turning to the gray market, rife with scams and counterfeit products. In a 72-hour period last week, Premier fielded more than 130 requests from hospitals to evaluate unregulated suppliers, none of which were legitimate, Saha said. "The short-term solutions are patchwork. We need to start implementing longer term solutions now or I don't know how much longer the Band Aid can hold on," she said. The new not-for-profit Project N95, launched by tech entrepreneurs, former government officials and supply chain experts, is one of many new impromptu clearinghouses for medical equipment trying to solve the crisis. Its website says it has requests from more than 2,000 institutions needing more than 100 million items of personal protection equipment in the next 30 days. The $100 billion earmarked for hospitals in the stimulus package will help quickly repurpose operating rooms into intensive care units, subsidize hospitals losing revenue due to canceled procedures, and hire additional staff to replace infected workers, said Ashley Thompson, the American Hospital Association's senior vice president for policy. Hospitals will also receive an additional 20% Medicare reimbursement for COVID-19 patients, whose providers can use up to two weeks of personal protection equipment in a single day. Leaders of both parties promise the money will give doctors and nurses the resources they need. Lawmakers are "proud to have secured truly historic investment of hundreds of billions of dollars in hospitals, health systems, state and local governments, ensuring that they have the tools they need to combat the virus," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday. But even some in Congress are dubious. "If the administration has a list of critical supplies it is providing, what's on that list?" said Rep, Norma Torres (D-Calif.) "If they've conducted a nationwide needs assessment, what did they find? If they've met with industry to encourage new manufacturing, who did they meet with?"
Yet another data point in the “Nobody knew there would be a pandemic or epidemic of this proportion” Files: Despite President Trump’s repeated assertions that the Covid-19 epidemic was “unforeseen” and “came out of nowhere,” the Pentagon was well aware of not just the threat of a novel influenza, but even anticipated the consequent scarcity of ventilators, face masks, and hospital beds, according to a 2017 Pentagon plan obtained by The Nation. “The most likely and significant threat is a novel respiratory disease, particularly a novel influenza disease,” the military plan states. Covid-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel (meaning new to humans) coronavirus. The document specifically references coronavirus on several occasions, in one instant saying, “Coronavirus infections [are] common around the world.” https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/covid-military-shortage-pandemic/ eta: So, in the 3 1/2 years Trump was President before the pandemic, we know that his Administration - Ignored the pandemic preparedness and response plan handed over to him by the previous Administration - Disbanded the NSC bureau that was specifically tasked with dealing with a pandemic - Cancelled the maintenance contract for the federal emergency stockpile of ventilators - Ignored an internal Administration report in ****ing October about our unpreparedness to handle exactly this scenerio - Ignored specific warnings from the Pentagon about exactly this scenario What a disaster of an Administration.
Another trump lie... most of the 100,000 ventilators that President Donald Trump promised the U.S. would obtain won't be available until June. FEMA tells lawmakers most new ventilators won't be ready until June The agency provided the news at briefings for the House Oversight Committee. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/02/fema-coronavirus-ventilators-161840
to Trumps's credit: US buys out France-bound Chinese masks right off tarmac With stockpiles waning amid COVID-19 outbreak, US pays a Chinese firm in cash for face masks en route to France The U.S. has bought out a large shipment of Chinese-made face masks originally bound for France right before they were shipped off from airports in China, according to French government officials. "A regional president explained to us that his order for masks had been bitten at the airport itself by the Americans, who paid three times the price, in cash. It is pretty incredible," Renaud Muselier, the president of the Provences-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur region, told an interview with BFMTV. Jean Rottner, the president of the Grand-Est region and an emergency room doctor also has said that the Chinese-made masks had been purchased for two or three times more. He blamed the U.S. intervention for the mask shortage his region had to face. "Indeed, on the tarmac, the Americans take out the cash for orders we have placed," he has said. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/us-buys-out-france-bound-chinese-masks-right-off-tarmac/1789498 ------------------ Trump is on right track. Hope the MSM reveal more of these.
Aren't older people more liable to vote R rather than D ? You mad ? We get some sorely needed supplies for American healthcare workers and you are gonna complain ?! You French ?
It is just like the current POTUS was total lacking in executive ability, even though he ran his own business for 50 years. Believe you me.
A snake oil salesmen out to make himself rich doesn't necessarily give 2 cents about who he cons, who he lies to, or what effect his actions have on others.
I think you are reading the poster wrong. I don't think he was complaining, he was actually giving Trump props. You sure seem to be sensitive about Trump lately.
I said Trump was on right track....... When your mad at someone, you praise him? If Trump government can keep this kind of aggressive attitude, there is hope. I am glad he is out there robbing.. but France does get hit hard, >4000 death out of 60000 cases
That's just a lot of nitpicking. Didn't you hear that @basso doesn't have any major issues with the way Trump has handled things.
Why aren’t they making industries here make them. Wtf is he waiting for?? All industries should be making all ppe here. We aren’t talking about complex ventilators. No excuse
