Connecticut governor: Medical supply ‘stockpile is now empty,’ we are ‘on our own’

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) on Tuesday said that the state’s allotment of medical supplies from the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile is empty and that the state was now “on our own” in trying to gain key equipment amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. 

“It was disturbing today to find out that the national strategic stockpile is now empty. We did get 50 ventilators, for which I am very thankful,” Lamont told reporters, according to Reuters. “For now we are on our own. For now we are doing the best to scour the globe for [personal protective equipment] as best we can.”

The Strategic National Stockpile is a federal repository of medical supplies to assist states in dealing with crises. Governors have continually said, however, that they have not received nearly enough supplies from the stockpile to address the surge in hospitalizations from the novel coronavirus. 

Lamont said that state officials were currently looking for medical supplies on the open market worldwide. 

“This breaks my heart,” he said. “I feel like a general sending troops into battle without the protective gear they deserve.”

He said that April would be a “horrible month” for the state, noting that confirmed cases were continuing to rapidly climb.

Connecticut has reported more than 3,100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 69 deaths stemming from it. The state on Tuesday reported that 608 patients are currently hospitalized due to the virus. 

Connecticut reportedly increased its hospital capacity by 50 percent to prepare for a surge in hospitalizations over the next three weeks. Lamont also said he was releasing nonviolent prison inmates to help stem the spread of the disease in state prisons. 

The Trump administration on Tuesday unveiled projections saying that between 100,000 and 240,000 people in the U.S. could die from the coronavirus outbreak even if social distancing requirements remain in place.