US still short of virus protection

Stockpiles of PPE remain woefully low as country faces tidal wave of new infections

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in March, the country scrambled to find personal protective equipment, or PPE, for healthcare professionals to fight the virus.

That pressure is back on again after US recorded 181,194 new cases on Friday, a record, according to Johns Hopkins University. Hospitalizations have also soared, with at least 16 states breaking records.

The Governor of Washington state, Jay Inslee, scheduled a news conference for Sunday morning as case numbers soar throughout the Pacific Northwest, for which he will reportedly detail new restrictions.

Inslee's office said he would discuss actions to combat the crisis but offered no details. The Seattle Times reported that among Inslee's announcements would be a ban on indoor service in restaurants and bars and significantly reduced capacity in grocery stores and other retail shops.

Early on Sunday, 10,977,635 people in the United States had been infected with the coronavirus and at least 248,833 had died, Johns Hopkins University said.

Although the supply of PPE has improved since spring, the US now finds itself still facing a shortage of gowns, gloves, masks and goggles as most states are dealing with another surge of coronavirus cases.

Recent reports from hospitals and nursing homes reveal that the PPE stockpile remains woefully low and the supply chain in the country underdeveloped.

Makers of N95 masks, which filter out at least 95 percent of very small particles, including viruses, and are regarded as the most effective tool for protection against airborne droplets, are struggling to keep up with demand from hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, as well as businesses in other sectors that require them to protect workers and the public, CBS News has reported.

3M Co, the largest domestic manufacturer of N95 masks, told CBS that "US and global demand for PPE continues to far exceed supply for the entire industry".

In Michigan, two out of three health systems reported less than a three-week supply for one or more types of PPE, with some hospitals reporting less than a seven-day supply of N95 masks, The Wall Street Journal said.

Most critical shortage

The most critical medical supply shortage that has been reported in recent weeks is in disposable nitrile gloves, 99 percent of which are made in China and Malaysia. There are few nitrile glove makers in the US, and ramping up production in the country would be a lengthy process.

The US imported 37.7 billion masks between March and October, according to official Chinese figures, averaging more than 100 masks per person in the US.

Many nursing homes are short of PPE, posing serious risks to senior citizens, a recent study by the US Public Interest Research Group said.

About 1.3 million people with long-term medical issues or short-term rehabilitation needs are residing in the country's 15,000 nursing homes, it said. The study found that 20 percent of nursing homes had a supply of less than one week of one or more types of PPE in late August.

Twenty percent of nursing homes reported that they were out of one or more types of PPE at some point from late May through late August, it said.

A recent analysis of PPE supplies by Harvard Business Review concluded that many glaring supply-chain deficiencies need to be fixed.

The analysis found that the Strategic National Stockpile, or SNS, established by George W Bush in 2004, was ill-prepared to deal with the pandemic need for PPE because of lack of expertise.

"The SNS's hardworking employees are doing their best in the crisis, but we found key gaps in expertise," the review said. "We believe that the SNS's slow response and lack of effectiveness in the crisis is partly due to a shortage of people who are capable of understanding the current state of play in the supply chain, making decisions, getting rapid authorization, and taking immediate action."

Mike Schiller, senior director of supply chains for the Association for Healthcare Resource and Materials Management, said a much more coordinated and strategic effort at regional, state and national levels is needed to deal with shortages of PPE.

Schiller said that "5,500 hospitals building their own individual surge inventories is impractical and places an increased and unnecessary demand on the already fragile healthcare supply chain".

On Saturday on Twitter President Donald Trump called for Congress to pass a "big and focused" COVID-19 relief bill. "Congress must now do a Covid Relief Bill. Needs Democrats support. Make it big and focused. Get it done!"

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.