This is perhaps one-third correct. There is still a shortage of certain critical protective equipment, particularly medically-certified respirator masks. However, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an authorization for emergency use in medical settings of respirators that are not certified for medical purposes: e.g., those for filtering dust and other small particles that are sold in home improvement stores. The supply of these is not constrained thanks to a massive ramping up of production by manufacturers in China. They are not designed as a barrier for fluid splatter, such as blood, but they provide the same protection against aerosols as medical respirators. Trump had nothing to do with the issuance of this federal regulation; it was drafted and approved by the agency's medical staff. And China is almost exclusively responsible for the adequacy of the current supply, because Chinese manufacturers are the source of almost all the product that is subsequently branded by companies in China, the United States, and other countries.
I don;t know how you came up with one-third. But the really big issue as I remember it was the dearth of respirators. My recollection was that Trump got many American companies to make these in time and supplied them to states that had the most cases. Now he's shipping surplus to other countries. There may be issues with masks, as American companies are making as many as they can. So you find a substitute. That happens in war. But you don't read about shortages today as Craig confirmed with his own experience. In any case, there's only so much a president can do. Congress has to,authroize funding for PPE and while they are working on bills, they haven't issued them yet. I guess the election isn't helping that problem.
Part of the problem is also that we shipped our manufacturing to China. Just what Trump has complained about since before he became president and has been trying to reverse by getting manufacturing back to America. Yet the Democrats have challenged him every step of the way with his efforts regarding trade and finance with China.
