Maine Center for Disease Control Director Nirav Shah says the federal government has shipped what could be the state’s last shipment of personal protective equipment, or PPE, for health care workers.
“What we understand is that this third shipment may be the last cache that Maine CDC receives for quite some time. We are hoping that’s not true,” Shah says.
Shah, along with Gov. Janet Mills, have been pushing the feds to send more PPE, which is worn by workers as they care for patients infected by COVID-19 and also to test for the disease.
Shah says the state is looking at ways to obtain more PPE through Maine manufacturers, but he was not sure how quickly that could happen.
Forty-three health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19, roughly 15 percent of Maine’s confirmed cases.
Shah says the state is looking to determine if those workers were infected on the job or elsewhere.
Originally published March 30, 2020 at 5:11 p.m. ET.
