Trump to governors: Try getting respirators for coronavirus patients yourselves

(Image credit: JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Governors across the United States are scrambling to make sure their health care systems have enough respirators to help people diagnosed with the coronavirus, but President Trump surprised them Monday by telling them not wait for the federal government, The New York Times reports.

"Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves," Trump reportedly told the governors during a conference call.

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Beyond that, Trump reportedly stayed on course by sounding optimistic amid the pandemic, promising the governors "we're going to get it remedied and hopefully very quickly." Trump has invoked some strict travel measures since the outbreak began, but his critics have argued he's been slow to grasp the severity of the situation, leaving the most intense measures to the states. Read more at The New York Times.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.