7-State Regional Consortium Created To Purchase PPE: Cuomo

LONG ISLAND, NY — On Sunday, Day 64 since the New York shutdown, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a seven-state regional purchasing consortium to procure personal protective equipment, tests, ventilators and other medical equipment.

The regional purchasing consortium will include New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, Cuomo said.

When the coronavirus crisis first hit, the equipment situation, Cuomo said, was one "no one anticipated. We couldn't get enough gowns or masks," he said.

To that end, looking ahead, every hospital will be required to have a 90-day stockpile of their own PPE onhand, a supply based on the same daily rate of usage seen during the COVID-19 crisis.

"We can't go through day to day moving of masks across the state. This mad scramble we were in and still are in," Cuomo said. "As a nation, we can't go through this again."

Throughout the past weeks, Cuomo has called for a federal approach to PPE procurement, stating that states cannot be pitted against one another, competing against one another to acquire PPE from overseas. That competition among states, he said Sunday, drove up prices.

New York State alone, he said, will buy $2 billion of medical supplies this year; the seven northeast states, he said, will buy $5 billion.

By joining forces, he said, there will be an ability to bring prices down and get the equipment that's needed. The consortium, he said, will identify regional PPE needs, identify and avoid "irresponsible vendors," and focus on buying American and buying regionally.

Purchasing supplies locally, Bellone said, is critical. "That's a national security issue to me. In an emergency you can't be dependent upon China to have the basic equipment you need to save lives in the United States."

During the pandemic, Cuomo said, Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, sent a private plane to China to pick up private masks for Massachusetts.

"That’s how we handle a global pandemic? I have to say, 'Do me a favor, Gov. Baker, as long as the plane is going, can you pick up some masks for me?'"

Cuomo said the focus must be on being producing PPE locally moving forward.

Cuomo thanked all governors involved on his press briefing; the governors all expressed support of the new partnership.

On Sunday, the total hospitalization rate was down to 9,786, below 10,000, " a big deal for us," Cuomo said.

Intubations were also down, he said.

The number of new cases stood at 789, down from the previous 1,000; Cuomo added it might be a "reporting anomaly" due to weekend reporting but said the overall trend was good

A total of 280 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

Cuomo also said that it was important to learn lessons from the past weeks. He discussed a possible second wave and said it's critical to look at what transpired and what could have been done differently.

The governor referenced a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and said there are different strains of the virus; the first cases that were reported on the West Coast, weeks before those on the the East Coast, came from China, he said, The cases reported in New York, Cuomo said, were a different strain that came from Europe, after the virus had moved from China to Europe and then to the East Coast. "That's an important fact to know and study, he said.

Of the regional consortium to purchase equipment and prevent price gouging, Cuomo said, "States are stronger when we work together."