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A new virus had rapidly spread across the globe and Tuomey Healthcare System in South Carolina couldn’t get more protective masks for its hospital workers. A global run on them had created a shortage. That was the 2009 “swine flu.” Tuomey later stockpiled protective gear, but over the years didn’t replenish some expired items. This year, it found that elastic bands on some of its masks were brittle. One snapped when an official tried it on. The swine flu, an outbreak of H1N1 flu, turned out to be a dry run for a major pandemic. But neither hospitals nor manufacturers nor the government made sweeping changes to be ready for one. (Berzon, Evans, Armour and Hufford, 4/29)

Congressional Democrats on Wednesday proposed a bill that would require a U.S. coronavirus supply czar to oversee critical medical supplies, while the top Senate Republican doubled down on demands for business protections. (Morgan, 4/29)

With reports of new coronavirus cases flattening and the number of hospitalizations falling, New Jersey is now shipping ventilators it received from the federal stockpile to hospitals in other states, Gov. Phil Murphy said during his daily briefing on Wednesday. New Jersey will send 50 ventilators to Massachusetts, which has started to see a spike in cases. Another 100 ventilators that were sent from California earlier this month have been cleaned and returned. (Sutton, 4/29)

When the first cases of coronavirus were announced in New Mexico on March 11, administrators at Santa Fe’s Christus St. Vincent Hospital felt prepared. As hot spots emerged from coast to coast, the 200-bed hospital -- the only full-service comprehensive care facility in the northern-central part of the state – readied staff, surged its intensive care unit, and canceled elective surgeries. The president of the hospital's clinician group, Dr. Lance Wilson, likened the process to preparing for a “mini-war.” (Rubin, Wagnon and Bruggeman, 4/30)

As the coronavirus pandemic continues its rampage across the United States, with more than a million confirmed cases and no end in sight, medical professionals and experts say the strain on the health care system has exposed major flaws and taught hard lessons. They said the pandemic has shown that we need to shift the way we think about health care as overwhelmed hospitals struggle to treat the surge in patients and lack enough personal protective equipment to keep workers safe. (Silva, 4/29)

When the Brockton Police Department received hundreds of protective respirator masks from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency earlier this month, they came as a welcome gift to officers increasingly worried about exposure in the line of duty. The masks were soon distributed to each of the department’s 200 sworn personnel. More were packed into kits and placed inside cruisers. But on Friday, the department received notice from the agency that new tests showed the masks to be severely deficient, filtering just 28 percent of airborne particles — far below what is considered safe for front-line workers. The department immediately recalled the masks. (Arnett and McGrane, 4/29)

Kaiser Health News: Trump Says N95 Masks Can Be Sterilized For Reuse. Only In A Pinch, Experts Warn.

As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, front-line health care workers are decrying unsafe working conditions — in particular, describing inadequate access to personal protective equipment, or PPE. Many hospitals and state lawmakers blame Washington, saying the Trump administration has not done enough to make this critical protective gear available. But at a recent press conference, President Donald Trump suggested those claims are overblown, asserting instead that hospitals have the tools they need to sanitize and reuse protective facewear. (Luthra, 4/29)