A
commercial aircraft carrying 80 tons of gloves, masks, gowns and other
medical supplies from Shanghai touched down in New York on Sunday, the
first of 22 scheduled flights that White House officials say will funnel
much-needed goods to the United States by early April as it battles
the world's largest coronavirus outbreak.
The
Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with private companies
on the initiative to "expedite the movement of critical supplies from
other countries to the United States," the president said.
And he noted the grim scenes playing out at hard-hit Elmhurst Hospital in his native Queens. "Body
bags all over, in hallways. I've been watching them bring in trailer
trucks — freezer trucks, they're freezer trucks, because they can't
handle the bodies, there are so many of them. This is essentially in my
community, in Queens, Queens, New York."
When
I see the trucks pull up to take out bodies, and these are trucks that
are as long as the Rose Garden. And they're pulling up to take
out bodies and you look inside, and you see the black body bags… (It's)
Elmhurst Hospital, must be supplies. It is not supplies, it is people. I
have never seen anything like it."
