The Mask Industry Was Denied A Liability Waiver For Years. The Issue Hindered Distribution Efforts Now.

Amid booming demand for protective masks for health care workers, first responders and the general public manufacturers just aren't able to produce enough. And the issue of liability proved to be a roadblock in the early days of the outbreak, with companies hesitant to re-purpose industrial masks to make up for the shortages. Meanwhile, authorities seize hundreds of thousands of masks as part of a price-gouging investigation. And a Boston Hospital acquires a mammoth "game-changing" machine that can sterilize up to 80,000 N95 respirator masks a day.

The Washington Post: Inside America’s Mask Crunch: A Slow Government Reaction And An Industry Wary Of Liability

On March 5, as the deadly novel coronavirus was racing through the United States, Vice President Pence paid a visit to the Minnesota headquarters of 3M, the manufacturing giant that produces protective respiratory masks. Pence, who leads the White House’s coronavirus task force, praised the company during a public roundtable for deciding at the outset of the crisis “to go to full capacity” and ramp up production of high-grade N95 masks. With its factories in South Dakota and Nebraska cranked up and running around the clock, 3M was on pace to double its global output to nearly 100 million a month, according to the company. (Whalen, Helderman and Hamburger, 4/2)

The Wall Street Journal: 3M CEO On N95 Masks: ‘Demand Exceeds Our Production Capacity’

American manufacturers say it will be months before they meet demand for high-quality masks, part of a broader breakdown in the effort to supply enough protective gear and lifesaving equipment to fight the coronavirus pandemic. 3M Co. and a half dozen smaller competitors are making about 50 million of N95 masks—which block 95% of very small particles—in the U.S. each month. That is far short of the 300 million N95 masks the Department of Health and Human Services estimated in March that U.S. health-care workers would need monthly to fight a pandemic. (Hufford, 4/2)

The New York Times: The Masks Were Seized In A Price-Gouging Investigation. Now They’ll Go To Medical Workers.

Hundreds of thousands of masks that were seized this week from a Brooklyn man who was charged with lying to federal agents about price-gouging will go to medical workers in New York and New Jersey, the authorities said Thursday. The need for masks and personal protective equipment, known as PPE, is acute in the New York metropolitan region, an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. The stockpile of supplies that were seized included 192,000 N95 respirators, 130,000 surgical masks and nearly 600,000 medical grade gloves, the authorities said. (Vigdor, 4/2)

ABC News: Medical Supplies Seized From Alleged Price Gouger To Be Distributed To Hospitals

According to the DOJ, the equipment includes roughly 192,000 N95 respirator masks, nearly 600,000 medical gloves, 130,000 surgical masks, procedure masks, N100 masks, surgical gowns, disinfectant towels, particulate filters, bottles of hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray. (Mallin, 4/2)

The Hill: FDA To Allow Imports Of KN95 Masks From China Amid PPE Shortage

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will no longer block the import of KN95 masks, due to a shortage in personal protective equipment, or PPE, in the United States, an agency official first told Buzzfeed News. The masks have been described as the Chinese equivalent of an N95 mask which U.S. health care workers use to protect themselves from airborne bacteria and viruses. Though they are allowing imports of the KN95 mask, the product is not FDA-approved, meaning those who use it do so without legal protections. (Moreno, 4/2)

The Wall Street Journal: A Million N95 Masks Are Coming From China—On Board The New England Patriots’ Plane

At 3:38 a.m. Wednesday morning, the New England Patriots’ team plane departed from an unusual locale: Shenzhen, China. On board the Boeing 767, in the cargo hold that used to be home to Tom Brady’s duffel bags, were 1.2 million N95 masks bound for the U.S. Video and pictures of the event show workers in masks and full-body suits at Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport loading box after box of the scarce and valuable personal protective equipment onto a red, white and blue plane emblazoned with the Patriots logo and “6X CHAMPIONS.” (Beaton, 4/2)

CNN: Counterfeit N95 Masks Are Leaking Into The Supply Chain

The urgent and overwhelming demand for N95 masks has created fertile ground for scammers to start leaking counterfeits into the supply chain and to make fake deals for product that doesn't exist. Two leading N95 mask manufacturers have issued fraud warnings amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying they've received complaints about fraudsters trying to sell nonexistent product. And in one case, counterfeit masks have already made it to the front lines in the US. (Kavilanz, 4/1)

Boston Globe: Boston Hospitals Getting ‘Game Changer’ Machine That Sterilizes 80,000 Protective Masks A Day

A mammoth machine that can sterilize up to 80,000 N95 respirator masks a day is coming to the Boston area — a major breakthrough that could potentially provide protective masks to all Massachusetts hospitals battling the coronavirus pandemic. Steve Walsh, president of the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, sent a note to members this morning saying that the machine will arrive Saturday from Battelle, a research nonprofit based in Columbus, Ohio. ... Battelle’s machine uses concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor to decontaminate N95 masks, which are in short supply around the country, desperately needed by doctors and nurses treating patients infected with COVID-19. Under normal circumstances, N95 masks are discarded after each use to maintain safety. With this system, they can be reused safely up to 20 times, according to Battelle. (Ostriker, 4/2)

KQED: Nurses At Daly City Coronavirus Hospital Sound Alarm Over Shortage Of N95 Masks, Medical Supplies

Two weeks after Daly City’s Seton Medical Center was designated a COVID-19 hospital and saved from closure, nurses are sounding the alarm that they are ill prepared to take in a projected wave of coronavirus patients. The hospital is setting aside 177 beds to receive patients as part of a state-funded move to keep all hospitals open during the current public health crisis. But nurses say the state also needs to provide them with the necessary equipment to do their jobs. (LaBerge and Lam, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Coronavirus: UCSF, Seton Nurses Call On Newsom To Send Protective Equipment

Nurses on the front lines of the Bay Area’s coronavirus response on Thursday called on the state to provide more personal protective equipment, warning that a shortage of masks and gowns could have devastating consequences for medical personnel and their patients. The registered nurses from UCSF and Seton Medical Center in Daly City — members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United — protested outside their hospitals to highlight a shortage of N95 respirators and other protective gear critical for health care workers treating patients infected with the virus. (Sanchez, 4/2)

WBUR: Boston Students Help Repair Medical Masks After Tufts Receives Damaged Donation

A dire shortage of face masks, gowns, respirators and other personal protective equipment has governments and hospitals around the country turning to unconventional sources to keep their health care workers safe from the threat of the coronavirus. When the Tufts Medical Center accepted a private donation of some 6,000 face masks in March, their gratitude was mixed with frustration: Although the masks were still wrapped in their original packaging and in serviceable condition, the elastic chords used to secure them to the wearer's face had become so brittle that they snapped easily. (Fleming, 4/2)

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