The coronavirus outbreak has left medical supplies in short supply. Is the nation’s emergency stockpile ready to help?
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government has a secretive, $7 billion stash of emergency medical equipment — one that it drew on to respond to the terror attacks of 9/11, to prepare for a subsequent threat of anthrax attacks in 2001, and to help thousands of homes guard against Zika with insecticide.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus, however, marks the first potential pandemic to reach U.S. soil since the H1N1 flu of 2009, teeing up one of the biggest challenges yet for the 21-year-old store, known as the Strategic National Stockpile.
