SACRAMENTO – Hundreds of millions of face masks will soon be on their way to California, where they’re desperately needed on the frontlines of the continuing coronavirus crisis, Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed in a cable news interview Tuesday evening.
“In the last 48 hours, we have secured through a consortia of nonprofits and a manufacturer here in the state of California upwards of 200 million masks on a monthly basis,” Newsom told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. “We’re confident we can supply the needs of the state of California and potentially the needs of other western states.”
The vast majority – 150 million – are N95 masks, Newsom said. The rest are surgical masks.
Since the start of the crisis, the state has distributed just 41.4 million N95 masks, Newsom said.
“We were going out and getting 5 million here, 500,000 there, 200,000 there, and competing against other states, competing against the federal government,” Newsom said.
“We decided enough of the small ball, let’s use our purchasing power,” he continued. “We built a consortium of nonprofits and a large manufacturer with appropriate contacts in Asia. Now we have the confidence that 150-plus million N95 masks, 50-plus million surgical masks will come in on a monthly basis starting in the next few weeks.”
In recent weeks, critical supply shortages have forced Bay Area hospitals and nursing homes to ration their masks, which protect both patients and health care providers from the virus. Reversing previous guidance, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising workers with diminished supplies to reuse the typically one-use masks.
