Personal protective gear supply said to be running low again in U.S.

• The AP (7/7, Mulvihill, Fassett) reports that “the personal protective gear that was in dangerously short supply during the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis in the U.S. is running low again as the virus resumes its rapid spread and the number of hospitalized patients climbs.” Overall, protective gear supplies “are more robust now, and many states and major hospital chains say they are in better shape. But medical professionals and some lawmakers have cast doubt on those improvements as shortages begin to reappear.” Meanwhile, “the American Medical Association wrote to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress calling for a coordinated national strategy to buy and allocate gear.”

• Citing the AP report, Forbes (7/7, Robinson-Jacobs) says that “Deborah Burger, president of National Nurses United, cited results from a union survey showing that five months after the pandemic began in the U.S., ‘there are still shortages of gowns, hair covers, shoe covers, masks, N95 masks…and we’re still being told to reuse them.’”