President Trump said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has deployed critical supplies to several states in recent days, and more is on the way.
“Since last Sunday, cargo planes have delivered almost — listen to this — 300 million gloves, almost 8 million masks, and 3 million gowns, and many more fully-loaded cargo planes are, right now, on the way. Three big ones landed today, and these supplies are being distributed directly to the hospitals and healthcare providers all across the nation. So that massive amount of material that we’re getting in is being delivered all over the country,” Trump said during a news conference on Sunday.
New York City would receive 600,000 N95 masks, and Suffolk County in New York would be getting 200,000 N95 masks on Monday, Trump said.
“We’ll also be deploying millions of N95 masks to other locations,” he said.
In the last 24 hours, FEMA has delivered 500 ventilators to New Jersey, 200 to Louisiana, and 300 to Michigan, Trump said. At least 600 ventilators are reserved for Illinois and 100 to Massachusetts, he added.
He said Washington state returned 400 ventilators, which can now be used by other states in greater need of them.
State officials have pleaded with the Trump administration to help acquire medical supplies to protect healthcare workers and treat patients suffering from the coronavirus.
Trump also said his administration bought “a tremendous amount” of hydroxychloroquine, which will be distributed to the states. The president has touted the drug as a possible treatment to the coronavirus, despite a lack of evidence.
“We have it stockpiled — about 29 million doses. We have a lot of it. We hope it works,” Trump said.
Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the country, has warned that there’s no “strong” evidence that the anti-malaria drug can treat the coronavirus.
