WASHINGTON — The whole-of-America response to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic continued today, as FEMA’s Region 5 Deputy Administrator visited an alternate care facility in Chicago, and National Guardsmen continued their support at a Sacramento, California, food bank and a test site in North Carolina.
FEMA continues to expedite movement of commercially pre-sourced and commercially procured critical supplies from the global market to medical distributors in various locations across the U.S. through Project Airbridge.
As of April 23, Project Airbridge has completed 78 flights with an additional 36 scheduled or in transit. Four flights landed Thursday, three in Chicago and one in Los Angeles. Four flights are scheduled to land today in Chicago.
Through Project Airbridge, the following supplies have been delivered from overseas manufacturers to the U.S. and into private sector supply chains from March 29 to April 23:
- More than 768,000 N-95 masks.
- More than 690 million gloves.
- More than 70.5 million surgical masks.
- More than 8.5 million surgical gowns.
- Nearly 2.1 million thermometers.
- More than 562,000 face shields.
To date, FEMA has obligated $5.8 billion in support of COVID-19 efforts. Recently, that figure includes:
- $30 million for California.
- $10 million for Colorado.
- $124 million for Michigan.
FEMA’s Region 5 Deputy Visits Alternate Care Facility in Chicago
CHICAGO (April 23, 2020) — FEMA’s Region 5 Deputy Administrator Kevin Sligh (right) participates in a final tour of an Alternate Care Facility that was built from an unused hospital. The facility will support the city and state hospital surge as a result of COVID-19.
FEMA photo by Dominick Del Vecchio
California National Guard, Conservation Corps Share COVID-19 Duties
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (April 24, 2020) — California Army National Guardsmen and California Conservation Corps (CCC) corpsmen work together at a Sacramento food bank preparing meals for the Northern California community stricken by the COVID-19 outbreak. The two organizations share similar functions and goals and sometimes interact during state emergency situations.
Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Eddie Siguenza
N.C. National Guard Assists Health, Safety Efforts at Food Processing Plant
SILER CITY, N.C. (April 23, 2020) — A North Carolina National Guard Soldier with the 42nd Civil Support Team works with local health and emergency officials to conduct drive-thru and walk-up COVID-19 testing for employees of a Chatham County food processing plant. This testing helps ensure the health and safety of plant employees and safety of the food supply. Hundreds of N.C. Army and Air Guardsmen are mobilized and working with civilian authorities across the state.
Photo by U.S. Army, Staff Sgt. Mary Junell
Rapid Air Mobility Expedites Fight Against COVID-19
BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG, Germany (April 23, 2020) — U.S. Air Force Capt. Austin Foster, a 76th Airlift Squadron C-21 aircraft pilot, performs a Rapid Air Mobility preflight inspection at Ramstein Air Base, Germany before transporting equipment used to combat the spread of COVID-19 NATO’s RAM initiative reduces the request time for diplomatic flight clearance.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kirby Turbak
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