Coronavirus Protection: New Hampshire Sending 4.5 Million Masks To VA Hospitals

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- A cargo plane carrying over 110,000 pounds of personal protective equipment to New Hampshire includes 4.5 million masks the state purchased for VA hospitals nationwide, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday.

The shipment left Shanghai, China, on Wednesday and is expected to arrive Thursday afternoon. The masks will be sent to the VA for their distribution, said Sununu, a Republican. The VA will reimburse the state.

"When VA Secretary Robert Wilkie reached out to me I knew this was a mission New Hampshire could take on," Sununu said in a news release Thursday. "We owe those on the frontlines taking care of our veterans the protection they deserve."

Wilkie said his department is proud to work with the state "as part of our ongoing effort to ensure our hospitals have access to the equipment they need to take care of our nation's veterans."

As the coronavirus spreads across the U.S., VA health care facilities are struggling with shortages of workers and the equipment necessary to protect employees from the virus, according to VA staff and internal documents obtained by the AP.

The news release said the shipment was secured with the help of inventor Dean Kamen and others. Kamen had assisted with a previous cargo of PPE for New Hampshire.

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