Pence promises to contact Kansas governor as coronavirus supply requests go unmet

Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday he will call Gov. Laura Kelly after she expressed frustration that her requests to the federal government for additional coronavirus supplies have gone unanswered.

“I have not spoken to the governor directly. But I’ll reach out this evening, certainly,” Pence said.

Kansas is seeking more than 22 million gloves, nearly 5 million masks, 1.2 million face shields, roughly 11 million surgical masks and 500 ventilators, Kelly said Monday. None of the requests, made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have been fulfilled, she said.

At the White House briefing on Wednesday, Pence announced that a shipment of newly manufactured ventilators arrived today and the federal government now has 8,000 ventilators in its Strategic National Stockpile. More than 40 million gloves have been procured by the U.S. government, he said, and are being directed to communities most in need.

“What we’ve explained to governors, is that what President Trump has directed is that we leave no stone unturned to find resources around the country and around the world, including ventilators, and we make sure as the coronavirus epidemic impacts individual areas, that the healthcare workers and the families and the patients impacted have what they need when they need it,” he said.

A FEMA spokesperson told McClatchy last week that states are receiving supplies based on the size of the population and not the number of requests they make. All remaining equipment is going to frontline health workers, FEMA said.

“And what I would say to the people of Kansas is that we’re looking at their numbers every day, just as in the case of every state in the country, and we’re going to work our hearts out” as coronavirus cases emerge, Pence said.

Pence’s comments came as reported cases of the virus climbed above 1,000 in Kansas and the state’s death toll rose to 38 – a 40 percent increase from the previous day. The vice president said Kansas has done “great work” on social distancing.

Kelly has closed school buildings, banned gatherings of more than 10 people and ordered people to stay at home except for essential tasks like grocery shopping.

Her most recent order, prohibiting religious gatherings of more than 10 ahead of Easter, came under intense criticism from Republican lawmakers. Legislative leaders on Tuesday revoked the order.

Asked about the controversy over the order, Pence said Trump’s coronavirus guidelines call for all Americans to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

“And that’s on the advice of all of our best scientific experts, as a way that we can, we can slow the spread,” Pence said. “But as we’ve made clear to every governor, we defer to our governors and what they believe is the best and appropriate practice in their states, and we’ll support those local decisions.”

A Kelly spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to questions Wednesday night.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 8:44 PM.