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LIVE ON SKYPE WITH THIS STORY. JULIE: IF THIS DOESN’T GIVE US A REASON TO HOPE ON EASTER SUNDAY, FRANKLY, I DON’T KNOW WHAT WILL. THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE SECURED AND JUST RECEIVED MILLIONS OF PIECES OF PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT FROM CHINA, THANKS IN LARGE PART DUE TO THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE SEGWAY. $5 MILLION WORTH OF PPE IS STILL BEING UNLOADED AT THE MANCHESTER AIRPORT RIGHT NOW. THAT’S 6.6 MILLION MASKS, 50,000 FACE SHIELDS, AND 24,000 COVERALLS. THIS HAS BEEN AN ENDEAVOR WEEKS IN THE MAKING. DEAN KAMEN, WHO IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN FOR INVENTING THE SEGWAY, FACILITATED THIS, WORKING WITH FEDERAL AND STATE PARTNERS AND FEDEX. THE PROBLEM? THEY COULDN’T FRONT THE FUNDIN >> THEY BASICALLY SAID, WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT, WE’RE NOT ALLOWED TO PRE-BUY STUFF THAT WE HAVEN’T SEEN, WE CAN’T PAY FOR IT. IT’S TOO RISKY. GREAT. IT’S TOO RISKY FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, AND FOR THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNMENT, SO I PUT IT UP. JULIE: JUST INCREDIBLE. GOVERNOR SUNUNU SAID IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE SIGH OF RELIEF THIS MORNING WHEN THEY LEARNED THE PLANE HAD LANDED IN ANCHORAGE, ALASKA AND WAS ACTUALLY ABOUT TO TAKE OFF, A PLAN SIMILAR TO WHAT GOVERNOR BAKER AND ROBERT KRAFT PULLED OFF EARLIER THIS MONTH. THE PPE WILL BE DISTRIBUTED SOON, AND WILL BE SHARED WITH OTHER STATES, PRIMARILY VERMONT AND MA

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A plane has brought about 91,000 pounds of personal protective equipment to New Hampshire.The cargo plane from Shanghai, China, carrying the PPE landed Sunday afternoon at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, Gov. Chris Sununu announced.The PPE was purchased by the state and will be given out at no cost to "areas of greatest need across the state," Sununu's office said in a statement.Sununu said on Sunday that a census was put out to state healthcare facilities to figure where equipment is needed most. The state will look at that census and then distribute the equipment accordingly.The PPE consisted of 6.6 million masks, 50,000 face shields and 24,000 Tyvek coveralls, according to the governor.New Hampshire inventor Dean Kamen led the effort to acquire the equipment. He spoke about the effort at a press conference following the delivery Sunday; Sununu and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen also spoke."What today is, is a jumping off point," Sununu said. "Not just for the state, but for all the healthcare facilities, all the individuals who can actually start benefiting from getting this PPE. We're going to get it out the door as fast as we can."The shipment totaled $4.5 million. Kamen will front the bill for the equipment and the state will eventually pay the full cost.In statements released before the plane landed Sununu and Shaheen praised everyone involved in the effort.“One month ago New Hampshire wasn’t even in the business of PPE procurement, and today we secured 91,000 pounds of this critical lifesaving equipment for our state,” said Sununu said in a statement. “We worked around the clock, scoured the earth, and left no stone unturned to ensure New Hampshire has the resources it needs to combat this pandemic. Huge thanks to Dean Kamen for facilitating this effort, and all others who worked tirelessly to make it a reality — I couldn’t be prouder.”Added Shaheen, also in a statement: "This plane is delivering lifesaving personal protective equipment which will be immediately distributed to the brave Granite Staters who are on the frontlines of this crisis. I congratulate and thank Dean Kamen for spearheading this heroic effort. Our State has not been receiving the PPE it needs and is running dangerously low on supplies. Thanks to Dean Kamen’s leadership, we are all a little safer today."