Indiana health workers likely won't get more protective gear from federal government

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WDRB) -- Indiana's state health commissioner said the state received its third — and likely last — shipment of personal protective equipment from the federal government.

In a news conference Thursday, Dr. Kristina Box said there's no indication the state will receive any more supplies from the federal government to protect healthcare workers battling the coronavirus pandemic.

Box said she was there as members of the National Guard and other state workers sorted and packed the latest shipment of personal protective equipment, also known as PPE, that was sent to Indiana from the national stockpile.

Dr. Kristina Box.jpg — Dr. Kristina Box.

"The strategic national stockpile was designed to try to be able to help a few large cities, a few states that were having a disaster, not to help all 50 states having a reaction or having to respond to a pandemic," Box said.

Box noted reports saying the surgeon general is looking into whether people should wear masks or cover their faces in public. Box recommended the public wear homemade masks, but stressed that medical masks and N95 respirators need to be saved for healthcare providers.

Box said the state expects the need for more PPE to continue.

"We are working to obtain as much personal protective equipment as we possibly can, whether that is homemade here in Indiana or things that we can buy from across the United States and across the world," she said.

As of Thursday evening, Indiana reported more than 3,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. More than 700 people are in intensive care. At least 78 Hoosiers have died.