Trump: U.S. has 9,000 ventilators
Officials are still gauging where they should go
President Trump on Monday said there are about 9,000 ventilators in the federal stockpile, though Massachusetts officials have only received 100 out of the 1,700 ventilators they requested from FEMA.
“It’s about 9,000, just so you understand,” Trump told reporters at a White House press briefing. “It’s about 9,000.”
The White House’s coronavirus testing czar, Brett Giroir, said the feds are looking at ventilator use every day across every state.
“So we have been able to meet and easily meet all the ventilator requirements that have been brought to us by the states,” said Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“No one has not gotten a ventilator that needs a ventilator, and as far as we can project looking at our models, every person who needs a ventilator will get a ventilator,” he said.
The Massachusetts congressional delegation on
Monday wrote to FEMA’s administrator about the lack of ventilators getting delivered to the Bay State ahead of an expected coronavirus surge in the next two weeks.
Massachusetts officials have requested 1,700 ventilators from FEMA, but only received 100.
“Given the growing need in Massachusetts, approving and sending only 100 ventilators to Massachusetts is grossly insufficient, and FEMA can and must do more to help Massachusetts during this crisis,” the delegation wrote in the letter.
“We urge you to fulfill ventilator requests submitted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health without delay,” the delegation wrote.
Epidemiologists at the University of Washington predict that Massachusetts will need 2,569 ventilators for the coronavirus surge.