The national shortage of N95 respirator masks can be traced back to 2009 after the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, when the Obama administration was advised to replenish a national stockpile but did not, according to reports from Bloomberg News and the Los Angeles Times.
The Trump administration is scrambling to replenish a stockpile of protective medical gear for healthcare workers and patients, as the coronavirus sweeps across the nation. N95 respirator masks are one of the most needed medical supplies amid the outbreak.
The George W. Bush administration published the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza plan in 2005, which called on the federal government to distribute medical supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile governed by the Health and Human Services Department in the event of an outbreak.
In 2009, the H1N1 outbreak hit the United States, leading to 274,304 hospitalizations, 12,469 deaths, and a depletion of N95 respirator masks.
A federally backed task force and a safety equipment organization both recommended to the Obama administration that the stockpile be replenished of the 100 million masks used after the H1N1 outbreak, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Charles Johnson, president of the International Safety Equipment Association, said that advice was never heeded.
“Our association is unaware of any major effort to restore the stockpile to cover that drawdown,” he said.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar reported last month that only 12 million N95 masks were available in the stockpile, “a tiny fraction of the 3.5 billion masks one of Azar’s deputies later testified the nation’s healthcare system would need,” the Los Angeles Times noted.
Read more at the Washington Examiner.
{Matzav.com}
Ya mean under Biden and Obamba!
He and his Deep State gangsters probably sent it to ISIS in Syria together with a stockpile of US weapons.
Obama made his mistakes, but his term is over, and it has been past for some time.
According to Breitbart News, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed Democrats for not letting Republicans “fund hospitals or save small businesses unless they get to dust off the Green New Deal.”
McConnell said, “Here are some of the items on the Democratic wishlist over which they choose to block this legislation last night. Tax credits for solar energy and wind energy, provisions to force employers to give special, new treatment to big labor, and listen to this, new emissions standards for the airlines.”
She added, “Are you kidding me? This is the moment to debate new regulations that have nothing whatsoever to do with this crisis? That’s what they’re up to over there. The American people need to know it. Democrats won’t let us fund hospitals or save small businesses unless they get to dust off the Green New Deal.”
did trump do anything in over 3 years about this or not? what credit does he get for this.
Trump has been in office 3 years. It is so pathetic for you to still blame Obama for Trump’s ineptitude.
This article is from the Washington Examiner very pro Trump anti Democratic paper, irresponsible and a bit desperate of matzav to post it. Donald Trump is the President and he is not helping the states fight this plague. He wants to give another 40 billion to farmers and bail out the cruise lines that pay no taxes because they file corporate papers in Panama. That won’t be seen in Washington Examiner.
The cure to the problem is 270 Electoral Votes on November 3, 2020.