Name: FEMA administrator pressed on N95 mask distribution l ABC News
Uploaded: 2020-03-24T04:17:29.000Z
Duration: 8 min 50 s
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we begin this morning with FEMA director Peter Gaynor, who is now in charge of the government's response effort.

Good morning, Mr Gaynor and I want to start right away with FEMA's mission, which is to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disaster.

So how did we get to this point where we have health care workers desperate for critical supplies?

It's a great question, Martha, and my role today is about today.

It's about tomorrow, and it's about where we are in two weeks.

My job is to bring together whole of government, whole of nation, to include our business partners to make sure that we can navigate our way out of this.

So when it comes to things like supplies, we have shipping supplies.

We strip yesterday, we shipped today with their ship.

Tomorrow we'll try to meet every need in the nation, but a word of caution.

Uh, the supplies that, uh, governors are looking for are the same supplies that every other country in the world is looking for.

It's a national problem, and again, we're working hard every day here to meet those demands.

The task force announced yesterday that 600 million and 95 mask to protect health care workers have now been ordered.

Not the president, not the vice president.

Let me run you part of that exchange that begin with their own trivial.

When exactly can they expect to receive these masks?

Every single governor across the country is looking for the exact same thing.

So there's a balance, but were examined the entire supply chain to make sure that we make masks.

So can you tell us this morning when those masks will be distributed and how many they have been distributed?

They've been distributed over the past couple weeks that shipping today, they'll ship tomorrow.

We find Maura, um, or master ship, because we have developing great partnerships with the commercial sector out there through donations, ramping up production s O.

We're trying to focus those shipments on the most critical hot spots in the country.

Places like New York City, Washington State, California.

But But will the healthcare systems there be overwhelmed before masks get there?

I know you've been shipping some mask, but these 600 million ordered are very important and critical at this point.

Will you get them in time before the health system is overwhelmed again?

And I think one of the things that when you say they would, you mean how many which masks the new math?

I mean, it is hundreds of thousands of millions of things that were shipping from the stockpile.

And I can't give the details about what Every single state of what every single city is doing.

But what I'm telling you that we are shipping from our national stockpile, which shipping from vendors were shipping from donations.

The demand is great that it the demand from the governor's is great.

I have two star general from the joint staff here, logistics that that it's helping me solve these problems.

Plus, many other from government were in this 100% How many masks were in the strategic stockpile?

You said you're shipping from the stockpile.

Uh, again, there are still supplies in the stockpile.

We are shipping all those supplies toe all the demands, all the ass from all the governors every day.

We're prepared to go to zero in the stockpile to meet demand again.

And if if I could just, you know, and this is shared responsibility.

Uh, you know, if you don't need a test, if you don't have symptoms, please don't get a test.

Because the demand for PEOPIE on unnecessary testing is something that's working against that.

So all in it together, every American has a role to play.

And we ask you if you need a get a test and you have symptoms, go get it.

If you just want to test to make yourself feel better, please don't do that.

I just want one more time on this mask, you say you're shipping amount where they're needed.

First you've still got some in the stockpile.

I wonder why that stockpile hasn't been depleted.

Have you seen the urgent pleas from health care workers?

I have talked to governors of tortuous mercy managers.

I am well aware of the high demand for these items, but but again, So why haven't those been shipped to those urgent care facilities?

If you have those masks in the stockpile, as you say you have and their ship, why weren't they ship before, which which really goes back to my original court question?

How are we in such bad shape at this point in terms of supplies?

So again, like I said in the beginning, you know, my focus is today right, filling all the demands that have been in the queue, filling the demands that we get today, tomorrow and through the next month to make sure that we should find, connect the supply with the demand and meet that need.

You said your agency hadn't been invited to join the White House task force until last week.

Should FEMA's involvement have ramped up sooner.

Well, you know, I'm not gonna look back on what should have been done.

My focus as the leaf of coordinating federal operations Eyes on today we could look back at another date.

Tomorrow, the next day, in order to beat this Corona virus, The Washington Post is reporting that the U.

Intelligence agencies were issuing ominous classified warnings beginning in January about the global danger of Corona virus.

All this while President Trump and others were downplaying the threat.

The Post says that according to an official, Donald Trump may not have been expecting this, but a lot of other people in the government were.

They just couldn't get him to do anything about it.

The president says this report is inaccurate.

You know that when it comes to public health emergencies, HHS has been the lead for that.

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FEMA administrator pressed on N95 mask distribution l ABC News

overwhelmed

critical

effort

contagious