6 hr 26 min ago
Opinion: Trump administration sent protective medical gear to China while he minimized the virus threat to US
Opinion by Dean Obeidallah
United States doctors and nurses are
in desperate need of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves from contracting the coronavirus while treating those who are ill. Some of them are trying to find it on eBay while others are pleading for help on social media.
The situation is so dire one New Jersey doctor
described it as "sending medical professionals like lambs to the slaughterhouse."
But concerns about a dwindling supply of PPE are not new. Back on February 7, the World Health Organization (WHO)
sounded alarm bells about "the limited stock of PPE," noting demand was 100 times higher than normal for this equipment.
Yet the same day as the WHO warning, the Trump administration announced that
it was transporting to China nearly 17.8 tons (more than 35,000 pounds) of "masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials." As Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted in the press release announcing this shipment, "These donations are a testament to the generosity of the American people."
Americans indeed are a generous people. We want to help those in need. And at the time these medical supplies were shipped, more than 28,000 people in China
were infected with nearly 600 deaths attributed to the virus. But how could Trump allow tons of vital medical equipment Americans to be transported to another country in February if, as he has claimed since January, he fully understood the risk the United States was facing from the virus?
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Trump administration sent protective medical gear to China while he minimized the virus threat to US