A lot has been said about America's struggle to secure PPE (personal protective equipment) amidst the outbreak of the COVID-19-causing coronavirus; some stories have been exposed as myths, while others have showcased the public's determination to support hospital workers on the front lines (1, 2). Still other stories have documented betrayal (1, 2), or how ordinary folks have fared under the circumstances, due to shortages:
But is America still experiencing shortages on PPE? There are so many conflicting reports. I can at least attest to the experience of a relative who works in the intensive care unit (ICU) and is wearing the same protective mask, week after week, and has had a chance to disinfect it only once per week. When I heard that story, it made me even angrier about the next one: that the U.S. government is shipping over one million protective masks to Israel - and not for Israel's doctors and nurses, who may come into contact with patients who have contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus, but for the Israeli military, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Jerusalem Post:
Note that, to date, Israel has reported just over half as many case of this coronavirus as America has had deaths in connection with it:
So, amidst all of America's protective gear shortages, real or alleged, the urgency to ship one million surgical masks to Israel makes perfect sense, right?
Right?
Well, I guess it depends what 'America First' means to you...
Choose your fighter pic.twitter.com/l4i3FWP0Fl— zd alienbabe (@tifffanycuh) April 4, 2020
But is America still experiencing shortages on PPE? There are so many conflicting reports. I can at least attest to the experience of a relative who works in the intensive care unit (ICU) and is wearing the same protective mask, week after week, and has had a chance to disinfect it only once per week. When I heard that story, it made me even angrier about the next one: that the U.S. government is shipping over one million protective masks to Israel - and not for Israel's doctors and nurses, who may come into contact with patients who have contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus, but for the Israeli military, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Jerusalem Post:
from "US Department of Defense give 1 million masks to IDF for coronavirus use," Jersualem Post
A plane carrying over a million surgical masks for the IDF landed in Ben-Gurion airport Tuesday night, in an operation ran by the US Department of Defense's Delegation of Procurement.
"In the past two weeks we have purchased and flown to Israel tens of thousands of swabs, masks, protective suits for medical staff and more," said Limor Kolishevsky, head of the New York Purchasing and Logistics Division. "A million masks, procured in China, were quickly flown to Israel with the intention that the IDF will be using them within the next few days," he said.
The New York delegation, part of the national procurement effort for medical equipment to fight the coronavirus, work with a with a wide range of international suppliers to purchase essential medical equipment for the IDF according to Kolishevsky.
Note that, to date, Israel has reported just over half as many case of this coronavirus as America has had deaths in connection with it:
So, amidst all of America's protective gear shortages, real or alleged, the urgency to ship one million surgical masks to Israel makes perfect sense, right?
Right?
Well, I guess it depends what 'America First' means to you...
