How California is getting 200 million masks a month for coronavirus, and what it will cost

Since the coronavirus pandemic hit California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has described the state’s rapidly growing needs for more gowns, gloves and masks.

He’s acknowledged that buying personal protective equipment for health care workers has been challenging, as states and the federal government compete against one another in the same limited markets, driving up prices.

Now, the state is using its power as the world’s fifth largest economy to buy on a much larger scale: 200 million a month. That’s enough, the governor says, to take care of California’s needs and potentially assist other western states.

“We were going out and getting 5 million here, 500,000 there, 200,000 there, competing against other states, competing against the federal government,” Newsom told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Tuesday. “We decided enough of the small ball. Let’s use our purchasing power. Let’s go at scale.”

The state is spending $1.4 billion on personal protective equipment, Newsom told Californians in a Wednesday press conference.

“That is not an insignificant amount of money, but we’re dealing at a time where we need to go boldly,” he said.

California’s new plan will expand the market for protective gear, the governor said, relying on both new and existing “supply chains” from other parts of the world. It’s designed to shield doctors, nurses, grocery clerks and other essential workers from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“We’re creating the impetus where more supply is made available, not just to the state, but for everybody,” Newsom said.

The state began its quest for masks earlier this year by tapping its own stockpile, donations from California companies and purchases from various sources. It distributed 41.4 million N95 masks, thought to be the most effective in preventing viral transmission. The state has received just 1 million N95 masks from the federal government’s national stockpile.

In its latest effort, California is working to secure masks with nonprofits that have relationships with manufacturers in Asia, including the California Endowment, Direct Relief and Americares, and the automaker BYD America, said Office of Emergency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci.

The state’s Office of Emergency Services needs to provide an initial payment of $495 million to obtain the masks, Newsom’s Department of Finance wrote to state lawmakers in a Tuesday letter. Legislative budget leaders will need to approve part of that expenditure by the end of the week, Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said.

The plan also relies on a new cleaning process that will sterilize up to 80,000 used masks per day.