Jared Moskowitz, director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, is asking for N95 medical masks on social media in an effort to get help for the state’s hospitals and paramedics fighting the coronavirus outbreak.
In a Monday tweet to manufacturer 3M, Moskowitz wrote: “Hi @3M. I’m your new Troll. I’m the Director of Emergency Management for the State of Florida @FLSERT. Please send us N95 marks directly to our hospitals, first responders and the state. How many brokers and distributors do we have to negotiate with only to find empty warehouses?”
Only a handful of companies produce the N95 mask. But they rely on distribution companies to resell them to customers, CBS 12 News reported.
And the South Florida Sun-Sentinel said Moskowitz has called the market for the masks a “Ponzi scheme.” He has noted it is plagued with layers of distributors and a bidding war by other states looking for the equipment.
“It is chasing a ghost,” Moskowitz told the paper. “It is a disservice to our healthcare workers, folks on the front lines. It needs to be fixed because right now it is just madness.”
He said his team has worked tirelessly only to find empty warehouses and “phantom” planes supposedly filled with masks that do not exist.
“We’re engaged in bidding wars, being asked to wire money to accounts that were set up that very same day with email addresses that were created only a couple days ago,” he said.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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