U.S. Airlifting Coronavirus Response Supplies From Around the World to New York, Chicago, Other Cities

The White House is airlifting supplies for America's coronavirus response from countries throughout the world and delivering them to various cities, including outbreak hot spots.

On Tuesday, flights carrying critical personal protective equipment are scheduled to arrive in Columbus, Ohio, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spokesperson told Newsweek. Flights have already dropped off supplies in Chicago and New York City and more planes are expected to land in other cities, according to a senior administration official.

The United States is responding to the world's largest outbreak of coronavirus cases, as more than 164,000 people have tested positive. With more than 66,000 cases in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo warned that any realistic scenario for the state would overwhelm health care facilities.

To care for the number of virus patients that are expected to need hospitalization, officials say there needs to be a significant increase in supplies. With far less personal protective equipment (PPE) than is needed for the response, officials and front-line health care workers have expressed concerns about shortages leading to increased infections.

On Sunday, the first of at least 20 scheduled flights landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. It was carrying 130,000 N95 respirators, 12.5 million gloves, 1.18 million face masks, 50,000 gowns and 80,000 thermometers, according to a senior administration official. (FEMA told Newsweek the flight transported 1.8 million face masks and gowns and 10.3 million gloves.)

The first flight had 80 tons of supplies on it, but each planeload will be different. On average, flights transporting PPE and other response supplies will arrive in the United States daily over the next few weeks.

On Monday, planes landed in Chicago, and flights are also expected to arrive in Baltimore as well as other cities. FEMA said air transportation will continue to be used until there's a "velocity of supplies" that can utilize air and sea transport.

From the ports of arrival, supplies will be distributed to various cities that FEMA considers hot spots. The movement of supplies to other states is being handled through private-sector distribution networks.

In early March, Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec testified that the U.S. would need 3.5 billion N95 respirators if the outbreak turned out to be a "severe event." He initially quoted the U.S. as having about 10 percent of that quota, but the HHS department later clarified that the national stockpile has about 1 percent.

To reduce mask shortages, 3M, a manufacturing giant based in Minnesota, doubled its production, and Cuomo offered incentives for New York companies to get into the PPE-making business. Businesses with the capabilities to produce masks, gowns and gloves would receive funding to get the right equipment and personnel, and the state would pay a premium for the products.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said the Food and Drug Administration authorized a N95 respirator mask sterilization kit from Battelle, a science and technology development company in Ohio. Each machine can disinfect 120,000 masks a day, according to Trump, and each mask can be disinfected about 20 times. Ohio and New York already have machines, Trump said, and one will be shipped to Seattle, soon.

More than 14,000 National Guard members were activated to help support state and local efforts to distribute PPE, and the U.S. is getting supplies from "all over the world," according to the president.