(VOVWORLD) - The US Department of Health and Human Services announced an agreement with DuPont to expedite the delivery of critical personal protective equipment needed for frontline US healthcare workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 Protective equipment delivered to the US from Dupont Vietnam manufacturing facility on April 8, 2020 (Photo: AP) |
DuPont delivered 450,000 TYVEK suits to the US from its Vietnam manufacturing facility this week.
After receiving the equipment from Vietnam, US president Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday: “This morning, 450,000 protective suits landed in Dallas, Texas. This was made possible because of the partnership of two great American companies—DuPont and FedEx—and our friends in Vietnam. Thank you.”
The US Department of Health and Human Services anticipates receiving more than 2.2 million TYVEK suits over the next five weeks with an option to continue purchasing up to a total of 4.5 million TYVEK suits.
Through an existing government transportation contract, FedEx will transport the TYVEK suits from Vietnam to the Strategic National Stockpile in the US, which will distribute the suits to healthcare facilities and workers most in need.
In order to make supplies available as quickly as possible and to deliver a steady flow to healthcare workers on the front lines, the US government will ship raw material to Vietnam each week for the manufacturing facility to continue producing the TYVEK suits.