Prognosis
California Orders Millions More Masks With Virus Cases at Record
- Governor extends contract with China’s BYD for supplies
- Domestic companies not producing enough, Newsom says
Workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) help customers wearing protective masks at a nail salon in Palo Alto, California, on July 14.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
With California now recording more coronavirus cases than any other state, Governor Gavin Newsom said he will extend a contract with China’s BYD Co. for hundreds of millions of masks and warned that efforts to contain the pandemic will stretch into next year.
California is burning through 46 million masks per month but needs more, with domestic companies still unable to supply them at the scale required, Newsom said in a news briefing Wednesday. He’s extending a contract with automaker BYD to supply another 120 million N95 masks and 300 million surgical procedure masks.