Hoarder stashed masks, gowns ahead of coronavirus outbreak. Now hospitals will get them
A hoarder’s trove of nearly one million N95 masks, medical grade gloves, surgical gowns, disinfectant towels and hand sanitizer found on Monday will get to where they’re needed most — U.S. hospitals in the epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak.
Justice officials said 192,000 N95 respirator masks and 598,000 medical grade gloves were found in the hoarder’s possession.
Another 130,000 surgical masks, procedure masks, N100 masks, surgical gowns, disinfectant towels, particulate filters, hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray were also uncovered — bringing the total number of hoarded medical supplies and protective equipment to 920,000.
“If you are amassing critical medical equipment for the purpose of selling it at exorbitant prices, you can expect a knock at your door,” Attorney General William P. Barr said in the release.
Following an inspection, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the supplies will be delivered to New Jersey and New York State’s health departments as well as the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
DHHS will also pay the owner of the supplies “pre-COVID-19 fair market value” for the hoard, according to the release. The location of hoarded supplies was not disclosed.
The raid comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s executive order designating certain medical supplies like N95 respirator masks and ventilators as scarce — meaning hoarding them is a federal crime, McClatchy News reported.
In Florida, government officials and hospital executives told the Miami Herald the private market for much-needed medical equipment has been filled with “unreliable vendors” and “orders (that) are promised but never delivered” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has called it “shady as hell,” the Herald reported.
In an effort to combat the hoarding and price gouging driving a critical shortage of supplies in the nation’s hospitals as the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act on March 18, The Hill reported.
The wartime act from 1950 in essence “gives the government more control during emergencies to direct industrial production,” according to CNN. Officials can direct corporations to prioritize contracts that aid national defense, create incentives for the production of “critical materials” and strike deals with the private sector, CNN reported.
Trump has since used the act to push the production of ventilators, according to CNBC, and require 3M to manufacture masks for the U.S. amid concerns too many were being shipped overseas.
The Justice Department and DHHS also invoked it Monday in confiscating the hoarder’s stash.
Peter Navarro, Defense Production Act policy coordinator and assistant to the president, told hoarders they are “hereby warned” in Thursday’s news release.
“This is the first of many such investigations that are underway,” Navarro said. “Our FBI agents and other law enforcement agencies are tracking down every tip and lead they get, and are devoting massive federal resources to this effort.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Hoarder stashed masks, gowns ahead of coronavirus outbreak. Now hospitals will get them."
