The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to give a shipment of personal protective equipment to the State of Oregon, according to a Sunday news release from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. After receiving the supplies, the PPE Distribution Center in Wilsonville will process and ship them to all 36 counties and nine Native American tribes in the state.
OEM’s Emergency Coordination Center will ship PPE to each county and tribe, and “counties are expected to receive shipments by or before April 6,” according to the news release.
“Having an adequate supply of PPE—masks, gowns, and gloves––is essential for the safety of first responders and health care workers,” OEM director Andrew Phelps said in the release. “We’re currently in a global shortage, but Oregon is working to replenish our supplies of PPE through public and private partnerships, distribute those supplies to all 36 counties in Oregon, and ensure health care workers and first responders are protected.”
As of midday March 29, the state has distributed over one million gloves, 10,000 face shields, over 400,000 N95 masks and over 50,000 surgical masks, the news release said.
“Even with the arrival of PPE and critical care supplies for our front line workers, all Oregonians need to continue working together and take preventative action to flatten the curve to reduce the spread of COVID-19,” Phelps said in the news release. “By staying in your home, you are helping to flatten the curve. Ultimately, slowing the spread of COVID19 directly helps to slow the demand for PPE.”
Updates on the state’s response to COVID-19 and Phelps’s briefings can be viewed online.
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