Colorado Politics

Denver had no extra medical gowns or face shields on hand as of Tuesday

Denver distributed every one of its 10,266 medical gowns and 6,758 face shields in its fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the latest report from the city’s Emergency Operations Center. There were none left on hand as of Tuesday.

The EOC estimates that about half of Denver hospitals are projecting a shortage of gowns in the next two weeks. However, the city is expecting a shipment of more than 167,000 gowns to arrive over the course of the rest of the month, and about 68,000 of them are anticipated to be delivered this week.

Denver has asked for more than 194,000 gowns from the federal government’s stockpile of emergency supplies, but only received about 5% of that request. The city also asked for more than 64,000 face shields, but has been given about 10.5% in return.  

The city on Wednesday is expected to receive a shipment of 60 ventilators from the federal government’s stockpile, according to the EOC report. The ventilators will be distributed evenly among its hospitals, including the Denver Health and Hospital Authority and UCHealth branches.

Meanwhile, Denver has on hand about 100,000 surgical masks and expects another delivery of 750,000 April 21.

To date, the city has spent about $15.4 million on COVID-19 response efforts.

Denver submitted an expedited reimbursement claim to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for recovery of COVID-19 response costs, according to the report.

By the end of the week, the city also plans to apply for aid from the federal government’s Coronavirus Relief Fund, a pot of $150 billion established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

The city reports it could be eligible to receive between $90 million and $115 million, although it won’t help soften the blow of the $180 million revenue loss Denver’s finance department currently projects

Denver’s Emergency Operations Center reports having no extra medical gowns or face shields on hand as of April 14. 
(Photo by ake1150sb, istockphoto)
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