A regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday that the federal government did not purchase ventilators out from under Colorado.

Lee dePalo, FEMA’s Region 8 administrator, also said in an interview that four of the nation’s 100 hot spots for coronavirus are currently in Colorado. But, he added, Gov. Jared Polis is requesting fewer ventilators than he previously did — 1,000 rather than 10,000 — in a sign that Colorado’s state-at-home order is working.

“The governor’s request to us is approximately 1,000 ventilators. But because the state is at about one-third usage right now, there’s not going to be 1,000 ventilators (sent) when there’s only around 6,000 in the national stockpile right now,” he said.

Colorado received 100 ventilators from the national stockpile last week.

“The fact that we don’t have to rush ventilators here to Colorado is a good thing, because the measures taken by the governor appear to really be working and flattening the curve,” dePalo added.

It was Polis who, on April 4, told CNN that FEMA swooped in and purchased ventilators Colorado was on track to acquire. DePalo said he wasn’t involved in that procurement but believes it was likely a misunderstanding on Polis’ end.

“In some cases, it can just be a lack of understanding of what happened. I wasn’t on the call for the 500 (ventilators), so I can’t speak specifically to what was said on that call, but I do know we’re not out there taking that stuff,” dePalo said.

He said there are occasional mixups in which suppliers tell a state they can deliver medical equipment but, after discussing it with a major distributor such as 3M, are told FEMA has already reserved the equipment under the Defense Production Act. He suggested that may have occurred in the Colorado case.

“You could see where the appearance is, ‘The federal government just swooped in and took our stuff,'” he said.

The governor’s office said Monday that the state ordered 500 ventilators from a company because members of the governor’s coronavirus task force had a relationship with the CEO of that unidentified company. A delivery date was set, but when the governor called to check on the order and to ask if the state could order more, he was told the order had been canceled due to FEMA.

In an April 6 letter to Vice President Mike Pence, Polis wrote that he revised the number of requested ventilators down to 1,000 at the request of FEMA. The governor predicted then that the state would need 4,150 ventilators by late April.

“The governor appreciates any ventilator the state receives from the federal government and continues to pursue partnerships with the private sector and other states to ensure life-saving materials are provided to the state of Colorado during this global pandemic,” Polis spokesman Conor Cahill said Monday.

On March 28, President Donald Trump declared that a major disaster exists in Colorado and named dePalo the federal coordinator for the state. He also manages FEMA efforts in five other states, as well as some tribal nations. He stressed that FEMA’s decisions are data-driven and declined to comment on the president’s role in determining which states receive which equipment.

Colorado will soon receive a Battelle decontamination system that can clean 80,000 of the much-needed N-95 masks daily, according to dePalo. Colorado requested two of the Battelle systems but will receive one, he said.

On Monday, FEMA also delivered $3 million in infant supplies to Colorado, including 8,200 cases of formula, 23,260 packages of diapers and 53,167 packages of baby wipes. They’ll be distributed to families at food banks and family resource centers.

Despite the disagreement over ventilators, dePalo had only complimentary words for Polis and the state of Colorado’s efforts to fight off the coronavirus.

“The governor put in place a stay-at-home order. It’s working. Our indications are that we’re starting to see some flattening of the curve,” he said.