President Trump continues to support states in the fight against the coronavirus
On Sunday, President Trump held an impromptu press briefing to update Americans on all the federal government is continuing to do to help support the states in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump announced that FEMA has airlifted medical supplies and PPE from across the globe. Since last Sunday, cargo planes have delivered almost 300 million gloves, 3 million gowns and 8 million masks, among other medical supplies, to the states.
Trump announced that 600,000 N95 masks are being delivered to New York City on Monday per Mayor de Blasio’s request. In addition, 200,000 N95 masks should also arrive in Suffolk County on Monday. The government will also deploy millions of masks to all areas of the country.
Since Saturday, FEMA has delivered 500 ventilators to New Jersey. An additional 200 ventilators were delivered to Lousianna, 300 to Michigan, 600 will be going to Illinois and 100 ventilators have been delivered to Massachusetts. Washington state has returned 400 ventilators to the federal government to be deployed elsewhere in the country, as the state no longer needs them due to the decrease in both new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. This is a great sign in the fight against COVID-19.
The federal government approved the construction of a 2,500-bed hospital in Chicago, and Trump says the federal government will staff the hospital. Trump also says that a federal medical station is being established in the Washington, D.C. area.
The U.S. has now tested and gotten the results of 1.67 million people — more than any other country. As testing continues over the next couple of weeks, the government hopes to see a decrease in new coronavirus cases. However, Dr. Birx does remind Americans that we will continue to see the number of fatalities increase over the next two weeks. Of course, Trump is positive that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Trump also announced at his press briefing Sunday that there are signs that hydroxychloroquine is working on coronavirus patients and that the federal government has purchased and stockpiled 29 million pills of the drug. The government is sending the pills to labs, the military, hospitals, etc.
The government will also make hydroxychloroquine available for 3,000 patients in Detroit and will be tracking the results. The administration is hopeful that this drug will treat the virus. Other treatments, along with vaccines, are still being created and tested.
