Pence asks construction companies to donate masks to hospitals as shortages loom

Vice President Mike Pence called Tuesday for construction companies to donate protective masks to hospitals, in a stark sign of dwindling supplies in the U.S. healthcare system.

“We would urge construction companies to donate their inventory of N95 masks to your local hospital and forgo additional orders of those industrial masks,” Pence said at a White House briefing. “Those industrial masks that they use on construction sites are perfectly acceptable for healthcare workers to be protected from a respiratory disease.”