Personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages (eg, masks, gloves, gowns) endanger patients and health-care workers alike during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Policymakers and experts have called for donations of existing PPE, increased production by manufacturers, and novel fabrication strategies, such as 3D printing of masks. However, even as PPE sources are identified, a critical information challenge remains: tracking evolving PPE needs and matching them with existing or emerging PPE stockpiles. Although anecdotes of PPE shortages dominate the media, and epicentres of the pandemic, like New York City, NY, USA, have articulated clear needs, the national distribution of PPE shortages has not been examined. Here we provide a quantitative, time-series view of the PPE needs across the United States.
As of May 2, 2020, 6169 unique health-care organisations or individuals in all 50 US states had submitted PPE requests. The data is included in GetUsPPE-Lancet.csv are all organizations that provided a valid address that could be mapped to the county level (n=4783).
Hospitals accounted for most requesting organisations (27%), followed by outpatient clinics (15%) and skilled nursing facilities (9%). Requesting organisations varied geographically, with 23% in the northeast, 16% in the midwest, 31% in the south, and 26% in the west. More than 87% of requesting organisations were in metropolitan areas, and 65% were in counties with median incomes in the highest quartile. N95 respirators were requested by 74% of organisations, making them the overall most commonly requested type of PPE. As depicted in the figure, need for PPE, which is measured by the volume of unique requests per county, appeared concentrated in major urban areas.
Thank you to GetUsPPE and Findthemasks for data contributed to this study!