A Million N95 Masks Are Coming From China--on Board the New England Patriots' Plane
Source: The Wall Street Journal.
NFL
A Million N95 Masks Are Coming From Chinaon Board the New England Patriots Plane
The Massachusetts governor struck a deal for supplies but needed a way to transport them. The result was a tense saga and a shipment on the NFL teams 767.
By Andrew Beaton
April 2, 2020 6:00 am ET
At 3:38 a.m. Wednesday morning, the New England Patriots team plane departed from an unusual locale: Shenzhen, China. On board the Boeing 767, in the cargo hold that used to be home to Tom Bradys duffel bags, were 1.2 million N95 masks bound for the U.S.
Video and pictures of the event show workers in masks and full-body suits at Shenzhen Baoan International Airport loading box after box of the scarce and valuable personal protective equipment onto a red, white and blue plane emblazoned with the Patriots logo and 6X CHAMPIONS.
The plane was permitted to be on the ground in China for a maximum of three hours, people familiar with the matter said, and the crew was required to stay on the plane while a ground crew loaded the cargo. It took 2 hours and 57 minutes. On Thursday, that plane will land somewhere more familiar: Boston Logan International Airport.
The story of this remarkable delivery, based on documents and interviews with people involved in the operation, is a window into the frenzied scramble by states to acquire life-saving equipment needed to battle the coronavirus pandemic. The process involves not just tracking down goods, but also tapping intermediaries and calling in favors to navigate a dense global bureaucracy that the pandemic has virtually paralyzed.
As the country and the medical system have grappled with responding to the virus, one of the greatest pressure points has been the shortage of N95 masks, critical equipment to protect against its spread. Demand has significantly outpaced supply, putting health-care workers and patients at even greater risk.
{snip}
Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-million-n95-masks-are-coming-from-chinaon-board-the-new-england-patriots-plane-11585821600
https://twitter.com/andrewlbeaton
mercuryblues
(14,489 posts)Krafty to counter his solicitation charges.
MyOwnPeace
(16,887 posts)that was my first thought too - "Thanks, Donnie - no charges!
PS: Thanks for the tip on "the blonde! "
former9thward
(31,798 posts)Those charges went nowhere. Prosecutors offered to drop them with a diverion program and Kraft refused. The video was tossed by the judge. The charges will never see a courtroom.
whathehell
(28,968 posts)of distribution?
Marrah_Goodman
(1,586 posts)OhZone
(3,212 posts)greymattermom
(5,751 posts)so that probably wouldn't matter.
OhZone
(3,212 posts)ananda
(28,779 posts)If there was any virus on the masks,
it would not survive that long.
IronLionZion
(45,250 posts)Yes, the virus can be detected on some surfaces for up to a day, but the reality is that the levels drop off quickly. For example, the article shows that the viruss half-life on stainless steel and plastic was 5.6 hours and 6.8 hours, respectively. (Half-life is how long it takes the viral concentration to decrease by half, then half of that half, and so on until its gone.)
keithbvadu2
(36,360 posts)awesomerwb1
(4,256 posts)Bulk pricing could be as low as $1.20 per mask according to one person i know whose company is trying to sell them in the US.
OAITW r.2.0
(23,810 posts)Latest was $1.75 ea. (free shipping!). These are trading companies that normally trade in electro-mechanical components - PCBs, plastic injection moldings. Prices and availability will change daily as panic buying sets in and opportunistic pricing dominates.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)the shipment sent to China earlier this year by tRump administration?
padah513
(2,483 posts)Something really stinks here
mitch96
(13,816 posts)sent back. Split the price between the two.. Yup.. Follow the money.. I hope I'm wrong...
m
catsudon
(839 posts)for free, US will get about 2 Million
I want this batch
awesomerwb1
(4,256 posts)Now we only need about one billion(or two or more) more. And that one billion is not an exaggeration - at all. The US has a population of 340,000,000ish with 200,000,000 adults. That would be 4 masks per person. One person would go through 4 masks in no time. We should all be wearing masks and gloves (imo) but they're almost impossible to find.
Now factor in the hospital/health workers/first responders/police departments and you can see we need billions of masks.
RockRaven
(14,782 posts)would be used up damn quick if they were given the resources they deserve -- one million masks isn't even one mask for each health care worker in the country.
Heck, health care workers alone would easily go through a billion masks during this pandemic if given the resources they deserve (1M doctors + 3M nurses + ?M techs/orderlies/support staff X 200+shifts).
Something is better than nothing, and I guess this is something, but it's a pittance compared to what is needed. Very much in "cool story, bro" territory. What's the plan to get the other 999+ millions of masks which are needed? We're going to run out of "white billionaire to the rescue" stories long before we get enough masks.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)once this is under control, is a president with a BRAIN, plus a competent administration of qualified people. No more hiring of relatives, or donors. This epidemic need not have gotten this far, if only SOMEONE had been watching the developments in other countries. Oh, wait all those people were fired.
Marrah_Goodman
(1,586 posts)DEbluedude
(812 posts)Individual states scrambling to acquire life-saving medical supplies from a foreign adversary. MAGA!!! I wanna puke.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)I sure hope not!
greenjar_01
(6,477 posts)MyOwnPeace
(16,887 posts)I like it!!!
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)And spitting on masks to be sent to the USA?
It's unsurprising given the horrid propaganda the CCP feeds its people.
But a reminder China needs to be removed from our critical supply chain.
The moment that Chinese health official threatened to withhold antivirals invented in the USA but made in China, I knew it was time to revisit our relationship.
We're going to have a lot of unemployed people. They can get good jobs making the stuff we used to get from China.
That's something Bernie Bros (like me), Biden Guys, and Trumpian morons can all agree on.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)What about all those trademarks Ivanka worked so hard to acquire? She planned to make herself SO wealthy from these goods from Jyna. It is beyond time to get these jobs BACK, plus get a REAL president and administration in the WH. This is NOT a family business, and never should have been run as one.
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)And all the Lear-Jet-Flying Elites -- supposed liberals one included, too.
I'm all about finding common ground and consensus. Pretty much the one place Bernie Bros and Trumpian idiots agree is we need to help the American worker. The people working at Costco. The orderlies at hospitals. The union worker.
China is run by a dangerous, imperialistic, elite, allied with our Elite. From Ivanka to the Koch Bros to supposed progressive Silicon Valley billionaires to the Waltons at Wal-Mart. They're all using us.
Bring back jobs from China. They can, and must, come home.
stillcool
(32,626 posts)for American corporations. Slave labor is all over...even here....as are the dangerous, imperialistics. I don't think of them as 'elite', I think of them as the GOP. I could care less about what China is doing, when everywhere I look my country is being destroyed. Even while manufacturing his wares in China, Trump had 'made in China' his campaign issue. Looks like the chorus is getting fine-tuned.
HarlanPepper
(2,042 posts)This Biden fan doesnt do xenophobia.
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)I guess the Nazis were just misunderstood, too.
The CCP is an evil organization. It had rounded up, killed, raped, and re-educated its entire Uighur population.
It just flat lied about the severity of the CV19 problem, effectively screwing the whole world.
And now it is pushing absurd stories that the USA created the virus.
It threatens to hold back vital drugs simply to kill Americans.
There is nothing xenophobic about calling out the evil, imperialistic, intent of the rulers of China.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)Its absurd to equate criticism of the Chinese government as xenophobic.
rockfordfile
(8,682 posts)MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)Massage parlor hanky-panky, but of age.
The sting, BTW, literally filmed hundreds of normal people naked just getting legit massages.
And, as such a horrible intrusion of normal peoples' privacy was all thrown out.
Can't believe the warrants judges sign these days.
honest.abe
(8,556 posts)I know they are not approved by the FDA but seems to me they should be better than not using one at all or using a home made mask.
Not sure if they will get held up at customs.. we shall see.
AntiFascist
(12,792 posts)honest.abe
(8,556 posts)Thanks for the link!
George II
(67,782 posts)When the Parkland students organized their rally in Washington, he sent the Patriots' plane down there and flew them to Washington.
matt819
(10,749 posts)But the fact that the entire US Government couldn't manage to accomplish this is shameful.
Makes you wonder, though, how many billionaires might have done, or be doing, the same thing, but without the need for the public acknowledgement. And if they aren't, then it makes you wonder why not. Which brings us around to my first point. Why the fuck isn't our own government doing this?
One more thing. Is anyone else thinking "third world country" when you see people making face masks at home? How the (maybe not so) mighty have fallen.
Canoe52
(2,944 posts)What a load of crap orangealinin and his minions are. I hope there is a big trial after this and all these criminals spend the rest of their lives incarcerated.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)That said, Im very happy with any delivery of critical supplies to my state during this crisis.
Good work Mr. Kraft.
catsudon
(839 posts)FailureToCommunicate
(13,988 posts)is trying to make up for throwing away Tom Brady from the Patriot's.