Calling himself a "wartime president," President Donald Trump today signed the Defense Protection Act, a significant step that would allow the military to produce, among other things, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks as part of an effort to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.Yesterday the Department of Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the military will make available as many as 5 million N95 masks and other PPE from US strategic reserves.The military can also deploy 2,000 ventilators as needed.
Today Trump announced that the USNS Mercy and Comfort Navy hospital ships, hospitals at sea, will be deployed to New York and the West Coast.Also today during the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing, Deborah Birx,