Some fitness services in the United States do not have a sufficient source of masks, as COVID-19 cases are reaching across the country and brands are working to increase the production of non-public protective equipment.
The United States set a new record for coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with more than 100,000 new infections and at least 16 states also broke records in the number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19. More than 120,000 cases were reported on Thursday, a peak of 20. % on a single day.
Manufacturers of the so-called N95 mask, the ultimate effective tool to protect against airborne droplets, are struggling to meet the demands of hospitals, nursing homes and other fitness care facilities, as well as companies in other industries. that now require them to protect staff. and the public.
3M Company, the country’s largest N95 mask manufacturer, which removes at least 95% of very small particles and adds viruses, told CBS MoneyWatch that “the order for PPE in the United States and around the world continues to outperigh the source for the entire industry. “
Some of 3M’s healthcare consumers have 20 times the amount of PPE they needed before the pandemic, a corporate spokesperson said. 3M is also responding to requests from new consumer respirators who have never used them before. Some vendors report higher sales in states where COVID-19 instances are on the rise.
Monthly production of 3M N95 respirators in the United States will increase from 22 million in 2019 to 95 million by the end of 2020, a spokesman said. Globally, by the end of 2020, the company will have produced 2 billion respirators.
This is still enough: nine months after the start of the pandemic, brands continue to restrict the number of masks that can be purchased, which is in addition to hospitals.
In fitness care services, as a general rule, services buy at least 90 days of mask at any time, according to experts and some state fitness services, but many cannot.
MidMichigan Health, a health care system for late Michigan, has approximately 30 days of masks.
“We can’t succeed in a 90-day source right now because the call is expanding across the country, which is necessarily what happened in February right after it all started,” said Jeff Wagner, vice president of fabric management at MidMichigan Health.
A three-month source would be ideal as the number of instances increases. “If we can get there, we might weather the typhoon a little bit. A 90-day source of smart quality products would make me very happy,” Wagner said. .
But expanding the number of instances in central Michigan will only make it more difficult to protect products. “It will get harder and harder,” he added.
MidMichigan, with hospitals, medical offices, emergency care, and other centers serving 938,000 Michigan residents, faces the deficit by disinfecting the mask that has mild ultraviolet rays to increase its usefulness.
“There are tactics for disinfecting masks, but it takes a long time. It’s by no means the ideal solution,” said Awi Federgruen, a production and source chain control expert and professor at Columbia University’s School of Business in New York.
Part of the explanation for why the production bottleneck is the complex production procedure for NIOSH-certified N95 masks. Although costs vary depending on the amounts purchased, buyers can expect to pay between 50 cents and a dollar consistent with the respirator, according to the seller. .
“It’s a pretty complicated article to do, especially the main filter. It requires specialized machines that are very expensive,” Federgruen said.
Brian Wolin, whose chiropractic paintings dried up when he was forced to stay home at the beginning of the pandemic, is looking to satisfy hospital masking desires. Since August, his company, Protective Health Gear in Paterson, New Jersey, has been producing and promoting CDC-approved N95 masks.
The company can now manufacture up to 1. 4 million masks according to the month and plans to increase production until the end of the year.
“We have to feel that phone calls and emails are accentuated as the number of cases increases,” Wolin said. “We’re not exhausted yet, but we want to increase production. “
Health officials in Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming also expect materials to adjust in the coming weeks as cases accumulate and require mask construction, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
In addition, thousands of nursing homes mention the shortage of PPE, masks, according to a recent report through the US Public Interest Group. But it’s not the first time
In August, seven months after the start of the pandemic, 20% of nursing homes had a source of less than a week of one or more types of PPE, according to the report, which is a critical shortage by industry standards.
“This is because an epidemic can kill its source in a day or two,” wrote Teresa Murray and Jamie Friedman of the US Frontier Group PIRG, co-authors of the report.
According to Federgruen of Columbia, the challenge component is matching PPE materials to apply in the United States. “The point of organization is lousy in terms of where other people are and with whom we can participate in contracts around the world. in his childhood. “
Mike Bowen, vice president of Prestige Ameritech, which sells large quantities of N95 masks to hospital distributors, is among the suppliers who actually have a surplus available after tripling it to give more flavor to the production of masks.
“We are in favor of more hospitals in difficulty. If there are hospitals that desperately want respirators, we have them. We have an excess capacity of N95 and facial screens,” he said.
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