Garment District Businesses To Manufacture PPE: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Businesses in New York City's Garment District will begin manufacturing thousands of surgical gowns for local hospitals with the assistance of the federal government, according to reports.

Federal officials will provide local garment makers with one million yards of waterproof fabric from the Virginia-based healthcare company Owens & Minor for use in making the gowns, the New York Post first reported. Delivery company UPS will deliver the fabric from a warehouse in North Carolina, according to the report.

Four manufacturing sites employing 500 workers will be set up to turn the fabric into surgical gowns, the Post reported. The initiative is expected to yield 400,000 gowns for local hospitals by May 23, according to the report.

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that local hospitals are experiencing a shortage in surgical gowns during a Monday morning press conference. The city's stockpile on equipment such as N-95 masks and ventilators — which the city and state identified as needs early on in the coronavirus outbreak — is holding strong as the rate of infection in the state plateaus.

City and federal officials came up with the idea to produce gowns at local facilities during a call between de Blasio and White House advisor Peter Navarro. The initiative has been dubbed "Operation Local Production," according to the New York Post.

Read the full New York Post report here.

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