BOSTON (WHDH) - In an effort to ensure that healthcare workers in the Bay State are equipped with the protective gear they need to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey helped pen a letter to President Donald Trump, demanding his administration take immediate action on the manufacturing of additional safety materials.
In the letter that was sent to Trump on Tuesday, Healey and the attorneys general of New York, and California, urged the federal government to mobilize the business community to immediately launch an initiative to rapidly shift existing domestic manufacturing capacity to produce personal protective equipment to keep healthcare workers safe amid the COVID-19 emergency.
Healey’s office said the measures are meant to address the shortage of masks, eye protection, gowns, and gloves.
Without the essential equipment, doctors, nurses, and others on the front lines risk infection and further spread of this highly-contagious virus, the attorneys general wrote in the letter.
“The complete lack of leadership by the White House during this pandemic is unacceptable,” Healey said. “The Trump Administration must act immediately to accelerate the production of new masks and other protective gear and get it to those who are treating patients. This is about saving lives.”
Hospital officials across the country have indicated that they’re already facing a significant shortage of necessary protective medical gear, according to Healey’s office. Some hospital officials in Massachusetts are instructing workers to begin reusing respirator masks to conserve rapidly dwindling supplies.
Healey’s office said some experts estimate that 12 billion masks will be needed to protect those on the front lines, however, the national supply is at only 30 million.
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