Gov. Wolf touts successful partnership with businesses providing PPE and reopening Pa

Governor Tom Wolf announces his administration’s actions which made personal protective equipment, or PPE, readily available for frontline workers to do their jobs effectively across Pennsylvania.

Six months after COVID-19 cases began making a dent in Pennsylvania, Gov. Wolf explained the various avenues pursued to ensure the state’s health care system was adequately supplied to combat coronavirus.

“Six months after the COVID-19 broke out here, in Pennsylvania, we have successfully reopened our economy. Our stores are open. Our businesses are reopened. And, a large part of that is because of how Pennsylvania businesses have stepped up to help. This has been a joint effort, a community effort,” Gov. Wolf stated during a press conference Monday.

In April, an order was signed to get critical aid to hospitals. The Wolf Administration set up businesses producing PPE with medical providers, in order to create a smooth path for hospitals to gain PPE easily.

The administration also worked together with organizations experiencing respirator shortages by joining them with Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System, in order for those organizations to receive the help they need to provide care. CCDS uses vaporous hydrogen peroxide to decontaminate over 10,000 N95 masks a day.

“In response to our critical need, the commonwealth's critical need for PPE, in the early days of the pandemic companies stood up and did some amazing things. And, we helped. And, I think that's where the part where community and economic development came in. We created online portals to say, if you're a business and you do something that's even remotely close to what we need to keep people safe in this emergency, in this pandemic, here's some opportunities for you to help," Gov. Wolf explained. "We had a staggering response from the business community."

Some of those online portals include:

“Because of the steps we took, our hospitals were not overburdened, and our medical system was not strained. Now, six months after the virus first appeared in the commonwealth, we can say with confidence that we are prepared to stay safe as we continue to fight this pandemic,” Gov. Wolf added.

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