Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
Recently, California has loaned 500 ventilators to four states and two territories. Nevada, Maryland, Delaware, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam also received ventilators from the Golden State.
Governor Gavin Newsom previously announced that California would be exporting ventilators and though he believes that New York is one of the best candidates to receive ventilators, he said that the federal government is best positioned to decide where they are needed most.
“We’re very proud to be able to extend a hand of support with those 500 ventilators and send them back east,” said Newsom. “We need to continue to procure more ventilators.”
Showing the excellent bipartisan cooperation during the coronavirus crisis, Vice President Mike Pence praised California while he was announcing where the ventilators will be sent.
“The state of California has provided extraordinary and compassionate leadership for their citizens,” Pence said. “They are making progress. As the governor said the other day, they are not out of the woods yet but the numbers speak for themselves and the generosity of the people of California and the governor is gratefully received.”
The decision by Newsom to export ventilators follows Washington and Oregon, which both pledged to send ventilators to New York. Washington Governor Jay Inslee said that his state would return 400 of the 500 ventilators sent to them by the federal government. In addition to Washington, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said her state would send 140 ventilators to New York since Oregon doesn’t currently need them.
Newsom noted that if Californians continue social and physical distancing, it will allow the state time to obtain all of the ventilators required.
“We looked at our modeling, we looked at conditions on the ground, and we feel confident about our capacity to meet our needs, as we support the needs of others,” he said.
Despite exporting them, state leaders claim that they are currently looking for ventilators for our state. This can only mean one of two things for the government: Either they are greatly overstating the numbers they need or they are sending away valuable supplies we still need.
If the situation is the latter, which is the more likely answer, California needs to stop exporting ventilators immediately to focus on priority number one: Californians.
