Not being prepared or having PPE available had nothing to do with trump. It was the oreo that gutted our supply of PPE and didn't replenish it.
bullshit. for weeks, donny praised china on how they 'were handling' the outbreak.
he knew & the experts were warning him it was coming... dating back to at least january & he did nothing.
he didn't ban travel from china for weeks either - then announced it without telling his intentions to anybody - thus allowing some 40K american citizens in china to scramble & board commercial flights straight to our shores - then took several more weeks to shut down travel from europe, where the carriers came actually came from ...
but the PPE issue falls on donny's shoulders. for 3 years, he had the opportunity to update the stockpile. but as for the 'cub boards being bare' issue?
blame yer chosen one:
U.S. exported millions in masks and ventilators ahead of the coronavirus crisis
Dian Zhang, Erin Mansfield, Dinah Voyles Pulver
USA TODAY
April 2, 2020 Updated April 3, 2020
U.S. exports of surgical masks, ventilators and other personal protective gear to China skyrocketed in January and February, when the coronavirus was wreaking havoc in the country where it began and as U.S. intelligence agencies warned it would soon spread.
American companies sold more than $17.5 million worth of face masks, more than $13.6 million in surgical garments and more than $27.2 million in ventilators to China during the first two months of the year, far exceeding that of any other similar period in the past decade, according to the most recent foreign trade data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
USA TODAY’s analysis of the trade numbers comes as medical professionals on the front lines of the nationwide crisis say they are being forced to reuse or go without personal protective equipment like surgical masks and face shields to account for a shortage. Some states also are scrambling to find ventilators to prepare for a crush of patients expected to need them.
The White House and congressional intelligence committees were briefed on the scope and threat of the coronavirus in January and February, but President Donald Trump has not stopped exports of key medical equipment – a move taken by at least 54 other countries so far.
The data show how U.S. manufacturers stepped up production and cleared out inventory to supply protective medical equipment to China for weeks, even as the threat of the coronavirus became clear. The CDC reported its first case in the United States on Jan. 20. Within the next two weeks, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had declared the disease a public health emergency.
U.S. exported millions in masks and ventilators ahead of the coronavirus crisis
17 TONS of PPE ended up in chinese hands, whilst our own medical people had to wear trash bags.
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