I know many, if not most of you, likely can't access Washington Post stories, but here is the link, America is running short on masks, gowns and gloves. Again.
As I reported earlier, gowns remain a significant issue along with N95 masks. In the above article it calls out that hospitals have stockpiled PPE for the potential surge in cases this coming fall. I'm reminded of the hospital director who stockpiled six months' worth of PPE when he saw the virus entering the United States and they blew through that in one month when they did get hit with cases.
If we are on a "War-Time Footing" then the actions of the federal government should reflect that reality. In World War II, the United States provided a huge amount of wartime supplies to the allied fighting forces, including Russia. That is because we ramped up our production capabilities quickly. Ford Motor made airplanes, not cars.
Having states and individual health-care systems fight their own individual battles to find PPE is absurd. When the after-action reports on COVID-19 are written (without revisionist influence) two prominent chapters will be on testing and PPE, documenting the obscene failures we have observed.
