[petre]

In France, president Macron signed an presidential order last week requisitioning surgical masks and their production for healthcare use. Why isn't this possible in the US? Japan's prime minister, Abe Shinzo, altered the law to be able to declare formal state of emergency. He came under fire for poorly handling the outbreak.

[otterley]

The Department of Health and Human Services is doing just that:

> Late Wednesday night, HHS announced it would be buying 500 million N95 respirators over the next 18 months for the stockpile, “part of a broader effort to maximize the availability of personal protective equipment for health care workers who are on the front lines” fighting spread of the virus...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/05/washington-...

[s1artibartfast]

The whole topic is a red herring.

The production is going to the hospitals and the government also has a stockpile, which they are partially distributing.

http://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/03/03/california-to-di...

http://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/03/03/california-to-di...