Jeff Zhang 张佶润@strangeharbors · Mar 20, 2020

THREAD: I mostly talk about movies on here, but here goes. We are currently pivoting our factory to solely make…

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Summary

A factory owner pivoted production to make 2 million surgical masks and medical garments daily during COVID-19 shortages, coordinating with state governments and congressional representatives to distribute supplies, but faced FDA approval delays that required urgent public assistance to overcome bureaucratic obstacles.

Summarized by ThreadOut AI from the full thread. May miss nuance — read the thread below.

#1
THREAD: I mostly talk about movies on here, but here goes. We are currently pivoting our factory to solely make surgical masks and other medical garments in short supply. We can make 2 million masks a day, and are looking to help in any way possible during this time. #COVID19
#2
Bureaucracy and red tape are making this hard, but if anyone knows of any hospitals or facilities that are in need of the following, please DM me: Surgical masks Face masks Surgical gowns Cover-alls Gloves
#3
All phones for the coronavirus hotline are jammed up, as well as all numbers from @NYGovCuomo’s press conferences. If anyone has any direct contacts on how to best supply our facilities, please let me know. It does not have to be within New York!
#4
Please share and retweet this, we have the ability to significantly ameliorate the medical supply shortage if we can contact the right people! #CoronavirusUpdates #Covid_19
#5
Floored by the response tonight. I know I said to DM me, but I never expected such an outpouring of requests. Trying my best to read all messages, but at this point it’s hard to keep up. I have incredible leads, and will be following up on the best way to get these supplies out.
#6
Thank you everyone who shared the word. I’ll also be updating this thread periodically to keep everyone posted. Please know that silence on here means that I am busy coordinating this effort. Again, thank you so much!
#7
Shipping millions of supplies from overseas is difficult and complex to do, but thanks to you all, we've gotten the contacts needed to make it happen. We are now prioritizing state agencies, hospital networks, then individual hospitals. We'll be working with @NYGovCuomo's office.
#8
Brief update: Up since 5AM coordinating, and made great progress working with @NYGovCuomo’s office thanks to everyone’s help. But NY is not our only priority. Also received responses from AZ, TX, CA, and IL government. Logistics and customs is next hurdle. This is only the start.
#9
We are working closely with @RepGraceMeng and her office on our efforts to bring the masks Stateside. Grateful for their hard work setting us up in the correct channels. The call for @US_FDA to expedite #PPE approval is absolutely the right call to make.
Grace Meng@RepGraceMeng · Mar 23, 2020
I’m continuing to look for opportunities 2 bring #PPE into the States 2 protect health care workers & patients. I know there are manufacturers globally that can end the #PPEshortage. @US_FDA must expedite its approval process for #PPE to help those working to combat #COVID19
#10
Working day and night to bring #PPE in and get it to the places that will have the most impact for those on the front line vs. #COVID19. The number of hurdles in our way is mind-boggling, but we are so very close. Looking to make our first placement of 1 million masks this week!
#11
URGENT: We have come to the conclusion that we are at an impasse with @US_FDA. We have millions of lab-tested masks ready for #COVID19, but we've received no guidance. Now reaching out to Twitter brain trust. Anyone with information or a contact at the FDA, please DM me.
#12
Everyone who sees this, if you cannot provide information, you can still help by retweeting the above tweet and tagging the @US_FDA. If we can get an official response, hopefully, we can fast-track this!