Markey wants to bolster medical supplies
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey is proposing broad powers for President Trump to address the coronavirus pandemic, calling for a Korean Warera act to increase private production of masks, medical supplies and testing to combat a deadly “invisible enemy.”
The Defense Production Act would allow federal aid to boost production of face shields, N95 respirator masks, ventilators, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers, or personal protective equipment, Markey said Sunday morning at the John F. Kennedy Federal Building downtown.
“We have used the Defense Production Act before, during the Korean War and Cold War, to mobilize defense industry infrastructure,” Markey said. “We are facing an equally deadly enemy in this virus. An invisible enemy.”
Markey’s call comes one day after Massachusetts announced it had 138 cases of the coronavirus, while nationwide there are 1,629 confirmed cases and 41 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The act would help with the nation’s need for respiratory masks, as Markey said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates 3.5 billion masks will be needed to deal with the crisis, against a national medical supply bank of just 12 million respirator masks.
Markey cited Berkshire Hospital as an example of a Massachusetts hospital in need, requiring 3,500 respirator masks per day.
“Massachusetts just got word that they are receiving 75,000 of these respirator masks for the entire state,” Markey said. “That is not nearly enough. We do not want nurses to have to reuse their masks.”
Markey also said he anticipated a “national outcry” to invoke the Defense Protection Act once the public realizes just how much testing the CDC is planning.
The U.S. Senate will reconvene Monday to vote on the House of Representatives’ coronavirus aid package, although Markey said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “should have already” called senators back into session for a vote.
In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Saturday the formation of a coronavirus command center that will focus on expanding lab capacity for testing. Although Massachusetts has not recorded a coronavirus-related death, 11 patients have been hospitalized.