Only a day after United States President Donald Trump projected that the country's COVID-19 death toll might not exceed in the range of 50,000 to 60,000 persons, internal administration documents and public records showed that the federal government placed orders for over 100,000 new body bags.
According to NBC News, the bags were intended to hold April's coronavirus victims as the order was earmarked for purchase the day after the projection.
Company marketing manager of E.M. Oil Transport Inc., Mike Pryor shared that the batch is a pending $5.1 million purchase order placed by the Department of Homeland Security on April 21. The company from which the government placed orders from advertises construction vehicles, Electronics, and building materials on its website.
He also added that the body bags have not been paid or shipped to the Federal Emergency Management Agency yet and he hopes that they don't need the order and they will cancel it.
In addition, not only body bags were under negotiations as of the moment, but also refrigerated trailers, as FEMA opened up bidding to provide an estimated 200 rented refrigerated trailers for strategic locations across the United States.
The proposals include a required specification that the refrigerated trailer should be 53 feet and at 3,600 cubic feet which is the largest in their class.
Moreover,The WallStreet Journal said that the internal documents gathered also include a pre-decisional draft of the coronavirus task force on April 25 regarding their incident outlook for the response, which is a summary of the task force leaders' meeting on the same day and communications among officials under several agencies.
The documents depict that the task force members are still worried about certain major risks ahead. The said risks include the absence of a vaccine or treatments proven and tested against COVID-19, insufficient numbers of coronavirus test kits, and a possible resurgence of the pandemic.
The US President described his role as a cheerleader for the US when asked about the contrast between his assessments and those senior officials on his task force, he also mentioned in a statement in March that he wants to give the people of America hope.
Trump also mentioned that the testing is not going to be a problem at all, but officials from the Department of Health and Human Services and FEMA clearly disagree on the statement as they flagged concerns with the testing plan in the incident outlook report draft.
The list of testing challenges sighted in the documents includes: Limited amount of diagnostic supplies. The definite capacity of testing facilities. Insufficiently trained response personnel to administer the tests. Unknown epidemiological information about COVID-19. Access to testing sites by underserved areas and at-risk populations.
Insufficient effective vaccines and therapeutics will not be available with target quantities to meet the need. PPE is required by developers and manufacturers in any movement or steps in battling against COVID-19.
Related article : Trump Reveals Strategy to Ramp Up COVID-19 Testing
