- The Washington Times - Tuesday, March 17, 2020

The Pentagon is dipping into its own equipment supply to help support the nation’s response to the coronavirus. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said they were prepared to provide five million N95 respirator masks and other personal protective equipment from the Department of Defense’s own strategic reserves.

In addition to the masks, Mr. Esper said the Pentagon also will give up to 2,000 deployable ventilators to the Department of Health and Human Services. Because they are deployable, the ventilators are different from the type used by most hospitals so some additional training will be required, he said.

“The first one million masks will be made available immediately,” Mr. Esper told reporters Tuesday at the Pentagon.

The 14 certified coronavirus labs run by the Department of Defense also will be made available to test civilians along with military members, Mr. Esper said.

“We will soon offer two additional labs for that purpose,” he said. “We hope this will provide excess capacity to the civilian population.”

The Department of Defense also is considering activating National Guard and Reserve units to help local communities with planning, logistics and medical support as needed, Mr. Esper said.

“We will continue to support the administration’s comprehensive efforts and the country every step of the way while ensuring our nation’s security remains the top priority,” Mr. Esper said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.

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