MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — Many states around the country still find themselves in search of personal protective equipment (PPE) to fight COVID-19.
From face shields, surgical gowns, no-touch thermometers and tons of sanitizer are inside the state’s Unified Command Center’s warehouse.
“We’re in decent shape, we’re not in great shape. I would argue that a lot of the states are still trying to get up. So we’re not stockpiling anything right now the stuff that you’re seeing in the warehouse is mostly throughput,” said EMA Director Brian Hastings.
The critical items used to fight COVID-19 are coming and going daily from the warehouse in Montgomery.
“When it arrives, we’re still waiting from orders from medical centers, surgical centers, dentists, counties, schools,” said Hastings.
The command center was set up at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, some of the main agencies include public health, EMA and national guard. So far they have disturbed:
- 15 million PPE items
- 7,600 vials of remdesivir
- 187 nursing homes disinfected
- 75,000 test kits
“Alabama Department of Public Health in this entire COVID-19 response has been an all hands on deck approach,” said Assitant State Health Officer Dr. Karen Landers.
