[by NY Daily News Editorial Board]
As New York figures out how to limit the spread of a nasty bug while reopening the economy bit by bit, it’s become bitterly clear we cannot count on the feds to deliver the testing kits and other basics essential in the new normal.
Good for Mayor de Blasio, then, for moving to ramp up Gotham’s own production of personal protective equipment and rapid testing kits.
The city’s manufacturing firms now anticipate they’ll be churning out 465,000 face shields and 100,000 new surgical gowns per week within 10 days.
Perhaps even more important, with global supply chain shortages hobbling states’ ability to run coronavirus tests and Washington missing in action, the city aims to produce 50,000 test kits per week by May.
It’s a goal, not a guarantee, and even that figure is likely far short of the number of kits we’ll need for widespread testing. But it’s a start.
Meanwhile, more than 400 nonprofits and faith-based institutions, led by Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, are offering the state hundreds of thousands of square feet of space to set up testing sites across the boroughs, Long Island and Westchester.
We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.
[John Moore, Getty Images]
DIY Disaster Response: NYC and Churches Step up to Fill Federal Void on Coronavirus Testing, New York Daily News