As the extent of the spread of the new coronavirus in the United States became clear, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, revealed March 15 that the stockpile had 12,700 ventilators ready to deploy. The government has since sped up maintenance to increase the number available to 16,660 — still fewer than one-quarter of what officials years earlier had estimated would be required in a moderate flu pandemic.