Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) on Wednesday renewed pressure on President Trump to use the Defense Production Act (DPA) to order companies to manufacture personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves.
In a tweet, the top contender for the 2020 Democratic nomination hammered Trump over shortages of equipment at hospitals around the country, which have reported significant issues in acquiring PPE such as masks, hospital gowns and other equipment amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“It is a national disgrace that our health care workers still don’t have the protective equipment they need. Donald Trump needs to fully use the power of the Defense Production Act to deliver these life-saving supplies,” Biden tweeted Wednesday morning.
Trump has faced pressure from Democrats for weeks to use the DPA to help address the shortages, but has resisted using the legislation for the purpose of manufacturing PPE while bowing to pressure last week on its use to direct companies to manufacture ventilators.
States around the country have also reported shortages of ventilators due to the coronavirus’s tendency to present as a form of pneumonia.
The order last week for companies to produce ventilators came as governors around the country have warned that they will meet their capacity for patients on ventilators within days. Coronavirus cases in the U.S. have now topped 400,000, while nearly 13,000 have died.