Trending: #PresidentNewsom
That’s the hashtag that was trending on Twitter on Wednesday morning after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Tuesday announcement on “The Rachel Maddow Show” that California will soon receive 200 million medical-grade masks per month, enough to meet the state’s needs and maybe those of others, too.
It didn’t hurt that on Monday, Newsom sent 500 ventilators to seven states, including the particularly hard-hit New York and New Jersey.
The message: California provides. The subtext: Because the federal government isn’t.
But Newsom said Wednesday his actions shouldn’t be taken as a critique of the federal government’s supply distribution.
- Newsom: “This is not political, this is not in any way, shape or form usurping or undermining, this is all in the spirit of all of us stepping into this moment and doing what we can.”
President Donald Trump has taken a mostly hands-off approach when it comes to coordinating purchases of protective equipment and medical supplies. States have been competing with each other in an escalating bidding war for limited resources, and the governors “have to work that out,” Trump said. With the federal government stepping back, governors with national political ambitions, particularly Newsom and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have stepped up, CalMatters’ Ben Christopher reports.
- Newsom: “We need to coordinate and organize our nation-state status as we can only in California with our procurement capacity that is quite literally second only to the United States itself.”
In response to concern that California could be taking resources from others, Newsom added:
- “We are not just looking at supplies in a scarce marketplace where it’s a zero-sum game. We are being additive. … California, in this case, has been a catalyst to increase supply that will not only avail itself to the state of California but more broadly across this country and potentially in other parts of the globe. And so that’s how we perceive our role … not trying to drive up more competition, but advancing the framework of collaboration.”
The Bottom Line: As of press time for Friday, California had 19,031 confirmed coronavirus cases and 505 deaths from the virus, according to a Los Angeles Times tracker.
—CALMatters
Inside Newsom’s $1.4 billion deal for personal protective equipment
California’s freshly inked deal to obtain 200 million medical-grade masks each month along with other personal protective equipment, like gowns and gloves, hinges on an unprecedented relationship between unlikely partners: manufacturing companies, nonprofits and the federal Emergency Management Agency. For more details on the who’s who of Newsom’s supply chain, check out this report from CalMatters’ Jackie Botts and Dan Morain.
- Some groups didn’t realize they were part of the supply chain until Newsom’s Wednesday announcement: “The governor has apparently done something extraordinary by making arrangements we were not privy to, but we’re delighted,” said Thomas Tighe, president and CEO of Direct Relief, a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit that provides medical supplies around the world.
—CALMatters
CA plans to clean and reuse medical masks. Is it safe?
Even as California works to increase its supply of new N95 masks for health care workers, it’s planning to deploy technology from an Ohio-based defense contractor to clean masks so they can be reused up to 20 times. But it’s not that simple, CalMatters’ Rachel Becker reports. Experts say that even with the cleaning technology, there’s still potential for cross-contamination and infection, and warn that the method should only be used as a last resort.
- David Rempel, UCSF professor of medicine: “[I hope] that none of this ever has to be done, and that enough new masks come in that no hospital has to decontaminate any masks at all.”
—CALMatters
WILLITS
Willits Center of the Arts will reopen with a new show after crisis subsides
The Willits Center for the Arts’ mission is to support active cultural participation and artistic expression in the City of Willits and its surrounding communities by providing a public space for gallery shows, arts activities, education, cultural activities, and community enrichment.
Here at the Willits Center for the Arts we are doing all we can to take care of the building and prepare to reopen the doors soon. We look forward to seeing the public at the next show. In the meantime, we exist because of donations from you and we need help covering expenses while we are closed. Revenue from art sales, rental fees and donations have been down because of the virus we are all trying to avoid. Our dedicated staff and volunteers are anxious to reopen and we will with a new show as soon as things improve. Please donate whatever you can afford to help the Arts Center fulfill its mission. https://www.willitscenterforthearts.org/donate
—Submitted
