As FEMA takes over the United State’s federal response to the coronavirus, Administrator Peter Gaynor said he has “every single federal agency” and commercial partners at his disposal. But he was short on specifics of what the agencies are doing.
“All of government is under one roof,” he said on “CBS This Morning” Friday. “There’s nothing in my way from coordinating.”
Gaynor said he has several priorities including supply chain management. Asked if FEMA is coordinating the effort to distribute tests, he said they are.
“Along with my medical expertise partners, HHS, we’re working on everything from testing kits to swabs to (personal protective equipment), you name it,” he said. “We’re trying to make sure that we have a way to prioritize needs based on requests, based on risk, based on we think where it’s going to be today, and where we think it’s going to be tomorrow. All of those things are factors.”
Asked if FEMA was doing anything to help health care workers who have expressed concerns over a lack of supplies to treat patients with coronavirus as well as protect themselves, Gaynor said they have tried to streamline the process to get the resources out, but added that other levels of government have a role to play.
“All the resource requests are coming here to the (National Response Coordination Center). We are validating and trying to fill every single need. However, this is a shared responsibility. It needs to be locally executed, state-managed and fairly supported. The only way we’re going to beat this is it we do it together,” he said.
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