PPE Shortages Resurface Amidst COVID-19 Surges
- July 16, 2020
ABC News (7/15, Siegel, Margolin) reports the PPE shortage “impacting rural and urban hospitals, nursing homes and private physicians’ offices is one of several problems with the nation’s pandemic response that have resurfaced again, along with delays in testing and crowded hospitals in several regions.” When interviewed by “ABC News, nurses, doctors and health care supply chain experts blamed the scarcity of masks, gowns and gloves on the Trump administration’s decision not to centralize and coordinate the purchase of protective gear, which has forced states and hospitals to bid against each other.”
Bloomberg (7/15, Tozzi) reports, “With the virus now surging in many large states, led by Florida and Texas, the nationwide pace of demand for the N95 respirator masks that give health-care workers the best protection is 300 million a year, up from 25 million prior to the pandemic, according to Premier Inc., which helps hospitals and other health-care providers buy supplies.” Furthermore, “almost one-fifth of nursing homes have less than a week’s worth of PPE, and the N95 masks designed to be used in health-care settings are scarce, according to a letter the industry groups for nursing homes and assisted living facilities sent to governors Tuesday.”