THREAD: Why did the US run out of masks, gloves and sanitizer as COVID-19 swept the country?
@AP’s @JulietLinderman and @MendozaMartha spent seven months investigating the collapse of medical supply chains with @frontlinepbs and @GlobalRepCentre
http://apne.ws/1xStdEI
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Just when they were needed most, Malaysian factories supplying the US with medical gloves dropped to half-capacity. The industry is plagued with labor abuses. 3/7http://apne.ws/VYYsH11
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As the first shipments of N95 medical grade masks finally reached the U.S., reporters
@JulietLinderman and@MendozaMartha noticed one shipment had ear loops instead of head bands, a tell-tale sign of counterfeits. 4/7http://apne.ws/nj1FTxDShow this thread -
Untested, unapproved, and without a factory of their own. The U.S. government made a big gamble on start-up injection device for COVID-19 vaccines,
@AP@frontlinepbs and@GlobalRepCentre reported 5/7http://apne.ws/iw91jekShow this thread -
Why are there still N95 shortages? The Trump administration hasn’t made long-term investments in meltblown textile, the key ingredient for the masks. 6/7http://apne.ws/ykZ4N1M
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When the coronavirus hit the U.S., countless Americans were left unprotected amid a desperate shortage of PPE. There still isn’t enough. Read more in today's investigation from
@AP,@frontlinepbs and@GlobalRepCentre. 7/7http://apne.ws/ZTzEBIoShow this thread
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That's one way to spin the cause of supply chain breakdown. What it was (and anyone trying to buy sanitizer or toilet rolls across the world) was good old capitalist panic buying. A run on certain products had the same affect as a run on the banks. Supply chains crashed.
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That the US had to rely on China for such essential equipment is noteworthy, but its hardly "China's fault " for the weaknesses of US capitalism anymore than it's the US's fault for China's authoritarian regime.
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