TO HANDLE WHAT WE WOULD NEED.
WE JUST SQUANDERED THAT TIME.
TESTING DIDN’T GET ANY BETTER.
AND THE SAME GOES FOR PPE.
I KNOW THIS IS EVEN HARDER TO
BELIEVE THAN THE TESTING STUFF,
BUT THIS WAS TODAY.
THIS IS NOT SOME HISTORICAL
ARTIFACT FROM THE BAD OLD DAYS.
THIS WAS TODAY.
>> THIS DOCUMENT CONFIRMS WHAT
OUR COMMITTEE HAS BEEN HEARING
FOR WEEKS, THAT WE FACE SERIOUS
SHORTAGES IN PERSONAL PROTECTIVE
EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING MASKS AND
GOWNS.
FOR EXAMPLE, PAGE 4.
SHOWS DEMAND FOR N95 MASKS IN
MARCH, APRIL AND MAY.
IT ALSO SHOWS THAT WE WILL NEED
MORE THAN 160 MILLION N95 MASKS
IN JULY ALONE.
BUT THE IMPORTS AND DOMESTIC
PRODUCTION TOGETHER WILL ONLY
SUPPLY ABOUT 130 MILLION MASKS.
THAT LEAVES A PROJECTED
SHORTFALL OF ABOUT 30 MILLION
MASKS.
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT MORE
THAN FIVE MONTHS INTO THIS
CRISIS, OUR COUNTRY IS STILL
FACING THE POSSIBLE SHORTAGE OF
30 MILLION N95 MASKS THIS MONTH?
>> THIS MONTH.
YEAH.
HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE THAT MORE
THAN FIVE MONTHS INTO THIS
CRISIS, OUR COUNTRY IS STILL
FACING THE POSSIBLE SHORTAGE OF
30 MILLION N95 MASKS THIS MONTH?
HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
BUT WE ARE MORE THAN FIVE MONTHS
INTO THIS CRISIS.
I MEAN, FOR SHORT HADN’T, IT’S
EASY TO REMEMBER.
THIS THING IS CALLED COVID-19
BECAUSE IT WAS DISCOVERED AT THE
END OF THE YEAR 2019.
WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY TONIGHT
HALFWAY THROUGH 2020, AND WE
STILL HAVEN’T SORTED OUT PPE.
NOT EVEN FOR HEALTH WORKERS.
NBC NEWS OBTAINED A DOCUMENT
TODAY SHOWING THAT THE MAJOR
MEDICAL SUPPLY COMPANIES IN THE
UNITED STATES HAVE JUST WARNED
CONGRESS THAT THERE IS NOT
ENOUGH PPE.
THE SUPPLY LINES HAVE NOT BEEN
SHORED UP THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO
MAKE ENOUGH QUICKLY ENOUGH, AND
THE SHORTAGES ARE BACK, AND THEY
ARE REAL.
QUOTE, THE HEALTH INDUSTRY
DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION TELLS
COMMITTEE STAFF IT HAS BEEN
IMPLORING THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION TO CREATE A
NATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN FOR
MONTHS.
THE COMPANIES TOLD COMMITTEE
STAFF THAT OBTAINING PERSONAL
PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT FOR U.S.
MEDICAL PERSONNEL AND PATIENTS
UNDER CURRENT CONDITIONS IS,
QUOTE, NOT SUSTAINABLE.
THIS IS THE MEDICAL SUPPLY
INDUSTRY ITSELF SOUNDING THE
ALARM IN JULY.
AND AGAIN, THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR
BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE A RERUN
OF THE PPE HEADLINES THAT WE SAW
MONTHS AGO IN MARCH.
BUT THIS IS NOW.
ADDS WE HEAD INTO THE BACK HALF
OF 2020 BECAUSE THIS STUFF
DIDN’T GET FIXED.
IN THE TIME THAT WE HAD, IN THE
TIME WE THOUGHT WE BOUGHT
OURSELVES WITH ALL THE
SACRIFICES THAT WERE MADE BY THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE, RIGHT, AFTER
THE HUGE BIG FIRST SPIKE THAT
WAS CENTERED ON NEW YORK AND THE
TRI-STATE AREA, IT TURNS OUT WE
DIDN’T SHORE OURSELVES UP AS A
COUNTRY IN TERMS OF TESTING, AND
WE DIDN’T SHORE OURSELVES UP AS
A COUNTRY IN TERMS OF PPE.
AND IN THE MEANTIME, ALL THE
STATES SORT OF RANDOMLY OPENED
UP WITHOUT GUIDANCE AND WITHOUT
REGARD FOR WHETHER THEY HAD
THEIR OWN OUTBREAKS UNDER
OBSERVATION AND UNDER CONTROL.
SO NOW WE ARE INTO OUR SECOND
PEAK, WHICH IS ALREADY MUCH
HIGHER THAN THE FIRST, AND IT’S
ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
AND NOW WHAT DO WE DO?
BECAUSE WE ARE LIVING -- WE’RE
LIVING THIS AGAIN.
WE LIVED IN APRIL THROUGH THE
HEARTBREAK, RIGHT, OF SEEING
HOSPITALS IN NEW YORK PUSHED TO
THE BREAKING POINT.
JUST THE MORAL DISASTER THERE,
THE AMERICAN CATASTROPHE THERE.
WE LIVED THROUGH THAT IN APRIL
WITH NEW YORK HOSPITALS.
WELL, TODAY THIS IS TEXAS.
THIS IS THE FRONT PAGE OF THE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE RIGHT NOW.
STAY AT HOME THIS FOURTH OF JULY
WEEKEND.
IT IS THE SAFEST THING TO DO.
AND THAT’S THE FRONT PAGE
WRAPAROUND -- WRAPAROUND FRONT
PAGE OF THE "HOUSTON CHRONICLE"
RIGHT NOW.
BECAUSE THIS IS THE NEWS IN
HOUSTON RIGHT NOW.
THIS IS THE HEADLINE INSIDE THE
PAPER.
"TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER HOSPITALS
GO INTO PHASE 2 SURGE PLANS AT
ICU CAPACITY EXCEEDS 100%."
TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER, WHICH
BOTHS 1,330 ICU BEDS UNDER BASE
OPERATIONS HAD 1350 SUCH
PATIENTS IN-HOUSE ON WEDNESDAY.
1350 PATIENTS IN ICUs.
ROBERTA SCHWARTZ, PRESIDENT OF
HOUSTON METHODIST HOSPITAL SAYS,