Re:The N95 mask shortage America can't seem to fix
by wil421 on Wednesday September 23, 2020 @10:27AM
(#24567457)
We are talking about the masks specifically. Public health officials cautioned 2 administrations about the US lacking the ability to readily produce masks in the event of a crisis. Specifically saying everything is now in Asia.
Re:The N95 mask shortage America can't seem to fix
by dariusj18 on Friday September 25, 2020 @12:15AM
(#24586521)
Yes, and as a result, the US government contracted a company to develop a machine to be able to create 1.5 million masks per day. Instead of having a stockpile, which itself is not a guarantee of having enough masks, this seems to be the logical path forward. Meaning that those warnings in 2013 and 2014 were heeded and acted on by creating this contract in 2015 (and apparently they contracted two separate companies).
Perhaps you misinterpreted the term respirator to not mean mask?
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/halyard-health-awar...
> "All government agencies agree that a shortage of respirators will occur during a pandemic. So, we have a real opportunity to demonstrate our expertise and help make a difference in an area of critical need by performing research on the ability to develop an on-demand, high-speed machine that will make use of stockpiled raw materials to produce respirators."