The federal government has a ventilator stockpile, with one hitch:

Thousands do not work.

President Trump has repeatedly assured Americans that the federal government is holding 10,000 ventilators in reserve to ship to the hardest-hit hospitals around the nation as they struggle to keep the most critically ill patients alive.

But what federal officials have neglected to mention is that thousands more of the lifesaving devices are unavailable, after the contract to maintain the government’s stockpile lapsed late last summer, and a contracting dispute meant that a new firm did not begin its work until late January. By then, the coronavirus crisis was already underway

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/world/coronavirus-live-news-updates.html#link-51fe9c3e




If the Trump administration is known for anything it will be their stunning incompetence. This time, people died. How do they ignore all the notices that this vital repair contract was about to expire and do nothing for at least 6 months?

Trump just authorized a new repair contract at the end of January so they've only just begun working of those ventilators. So all the hospitals who a frantically trying to get ventilators to save their patients have lost at least 9 months thanks to Trump and his bunch of unqualified, negligent suck ups.