Connecticut senator warns of impending critical PPE shortages

Maia Anderson -

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., warned Nov. 12 that Connecticut will face severe shortages of personal protective equipment and testing supplies amid rising COVID-19 cases in the state, WTIC, a local Fox affiliate in Hartford, Conn., reported. 

The senator called for the federal government to invoke the Defense Production Act for PPE. 

"We need to develop the supply chain here in America, so we are not dependent on South Korea or China," he said 

Jessica Abrabtes-Figuerido, MD, an infectious disease physician at Trinity Health of New England in Hartford, Conn., told WTIC that testing delays are causing more PPE to be used. 

"We’ve gotten better, and part of that reason has been the turnaround time that we have for testing. When you are waiting three to five days to know if a patient has COVID or not, we’re going to be using full PPE with those patients," she said. 

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