page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in California
section_title: Personal protective equipment for healthcare workers
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in California / Equipment shortage / Personal protective equipment for healthcare workers
caption_attribution_description: English: April 13, 2020. Outside UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica. NNU Nurses Protest Lack of N-95 Masks &amp; other protective equipment. Cropped version at File:NNU Protest UCLA Medical Center (crop).png
context_page_description: The first case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. state of California was confirmed on January 26, 2020. A state of emergency has been in place in the state since March 4, 2020. A mandatory statewide stay-at-home order was issued on March 19. As of August 24, 2020, the California Department of Public Health has reported 668,366 confirmed cases and 12,134 deaths in the state.
  As of August 21, 2020, California has the highest number of confirmed cases in the United States, but only the 20th highest number of confirmed cases per capita. It has the third-highest count of deaths related to the virus, behind New York and New Jersey, but only 27th highest death count per capita. Compared to worldwide provinces/subdivisions, California ranks second in total confirmed cases behind the Brazilian state of São Paulo.
  On August 9, 2020, Dr. Sonia Y. Angell resigned as the CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer. Governor Gavin Newsom indicated Angell's resignation was related to data issues with the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange system that resulted in nearly 300,000 backlogged COVID-19 test results.
context_section_description: As early as January, 2020, a survey by the California Department of Public Health found that many Californian health care providers were having trouble obtaining adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), such as masks, gowns, and eye protection. By mid-March, 2020, when Newsom issued the first statewide shelter-in-place order, 220 of 292 California hospitals surveyed already reported that they were having to limit use of masks, often severely. Even with limitations in place, Newsom estimated that California healthcare facilities were still using about 46 million masks each month during the pandemic.
  As safety equipment shortages continued throughout the first months of the pandemic, many doctors, nurses and emergency medical service workers expressed fears and frustrations at being asked to reuse safety gear or wear homemade and less effective masks and at the overall lack of proper PPE, which does not provide adequate protection from COVID-19 exposure. As of July 28, local agencies reported 121 deaths from a total of 22,423 confirmed positive cases among healthcare workers in California.
  Newsom's administration made several attempts to procure masks and other protective equipment for healthcare workers, including:
  multiple attempts at large-scale mask purchases, including failed deals with Blue Flame Medical (now under investigation by the US Department of Justice), and Bear Mountain Development Co., as well as a successful, if initially delayed, purchase from BYD; and
  a marketplace portal where individuals and businesses could offer PPE for donation or sale, attracting many small donations and fraudulent business posts that overwhelmed the site managers.
  As of July 22, 2020, California's stockpile reached approximately 86 million N-95 masks and 111 million surgical and procedural masks.
caption: Nurses protesting a lack of N-95 masks at the UCLA Medical Center on April 13, 2020
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