A shipment of 225,000 surgical masks that were believed to have gone missing en route to Michigan from the federal government’s Strategic National Stockpile will be shipped Thursday night, state officials told the Detroit News.
The federal government claimed to have sent 450,000 surgical masks from its national stockpile in early March to help healthcare workers battle the coronavirus pandemic, though Michigan’s health department said it only received half of them.
“We were notified the masks will be arriving tonight,” Lynn Sutfin, spokeswoman for the Michigan health department, told the Detroit News.
Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., on Wednesday told the news outlet that it was unclear what happened to the shipment.
"Just now, at this moment, literally, is the first we heard this, and this is from a shipment that supposedly happened (and) was received on the 5th of March."
Michigan’s health department has received 250,000 non-sterile gloves, 195,000 N95 masks, 86,000 face shields and 70,000 surgical gowns in two federal shipments, according to the Detroit News.
Detroit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has consistently pressed the federal government to help with personal protective equipment.
"I know that that is a critical need all across the country, and they're having a hard time fulfilling it," Whitmer said Wednesday night on MSNBC. "If we can't do the tests, we can't isolate the right people."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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