U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters March 17 that the Pentagon will provide federal healthcare authorities with 5 million respirator masks and 2,000 specialized ventilators to help in the pandemic response, ABC News reported.
The ventilators are designed for military purposes so troops will have to train civilian medical providers on how to use them. Mr. Esper also said some of the ventilators may only be good for a single use.
The first million respiratory masks will be available immediately, according to ABC. It isn't immediately clear when the rest of the supplies will be available.
Mr. Esper said the federal government should be healthcare providers' last resort to get supplies and that they should reach out to state and local authorities first.
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