Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine announced that there’s an Ohio-based company called Battelle that’s invented a machine to sterilize up to 80,000 N95 masks per day which would allow medical professionals to use them up to 20 times:

.@Battelle's Lew Von Thaer: We've proven this technology and we've built a system that can clean and reuse masks up to 20 times. pic.twitter.com/qEagN6cnqp — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 29, 2020

This is great news:

.@Battelle: We plan to take masks from all over the state. We are ready to help everyone. #InThisTogetherOhio — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 29, 2020

The company has two machines in Ohio so far, but the FDA will only approve them for 10,000 masks per day, not 160,000:

JUST IN: Gov. DeWine announced the FDA has authorized Columbus-based Battelle to sterilize only 10,000 surgical masks in Ohio each day, despite their ability to sterilize up to 160,000 masks per day in Ohio alone. https://t.co/d5k0z6ghtx — NBC4 Columbus (@nbc4i) March 29, 2020

WTF!

The FDA has bee consistently incompetent and stood in the way of necessary actions to save lives. Almost every government failure and complaint during this response has related to that one agency. After we get through this, we need to look at serious changes there. https://t.co/MulH0Ok4Xi — (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) March 29, 2020

They’re also ready to make more machines and send them to corona hotspots:

One is ready to be sent to Seattle, and one to the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia area. They have the ability in the next few weeks to make 15 more machines and send them to different parts of the country. — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 29, 2020

The governor says things should be cleared up today:

A few minutes ago I talked with the @US_FDA commissioner who tells us this will be cleared up today. We're not there yet, but I'm hopeful. — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 29, 2020

And he’s got President Trump on the case:

I expect a decision today. I'm an impatient guy, but lives are literally at stake. We want everyone in the country to understand the importance of this. It's why I called the President. The @US_FDA commissioner assured me this would be done today. I'm cautiously optimistic. — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 29, 2020

Faster, please:

I called the @realDonaldTrump this morning. The President called me back. I explained to him what is happening. We had a good conversation. He understands that we want to protect our first responders/hospital employees. He was great. He said "I'm moving. I'll get this done." — Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) March 29, 2020

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