A massive stockpile of 39 million N95 masks is being sold to American hospitals and local governments — about 27 million more than the US emergency stockpile

REUTERS/Rahel Patrasso

Labourers work on PFF2 respirator masks at Delta Plus plant in Socorro, Sao Paulo state, Brazil March 3, 2020. Picture taken March 3, 2020.

• A union representing healthcare works said Thursday that it had located 39 million N95 masks and was connecting their supplier to hospitals and state and local governments.
• That's more than the amount of masks in the national stockpile, which has around 12 million N95 masks and 30 million surgical masks.
• The masks are set to be distributed to hospitals in California and New York and will be sold for $5 each.
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The Service Employees International Union said in a statement Thursday, circulating on Twitter, that it had found 39 million masks for hospitals.

A union representing healthcare workers on Thursday said it had located 39 million N95 masks and was connecting their supplier to healthcare facilities and state and local governments to protect those treating coronavirus patients

The masks will be distributed in California and New York, according to a copy of the Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West's statement posted by the labor reporter Noam Scheiber.


The stockpile of masks is far larger than the roughly 12 million N95 masks in the US government's stockpile as of earlier this month.

The masks will be sold for $5 each, according to the union's statement posted by NPR investigative reporter Tim Mak. In the statement, the union said it had "no financial interest in the transactions."

The union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



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Wow, this seems like big news from the folks in big labor. pic.twitter.com/DOGwOF08HM

- Noam Scheiber (@noamscheiber) March 26, 2020

Here's the parts of the press release where the SEIU lays out that they'll be selling the masks they've located for $5, and who they've already lined up sales to: pic.twitter.com/EHTVPrC5oB

- Tim Mak (@timkmak) March 26, 2020

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said SEIU United Healthcare Workers West itself would be selling the N95 masks. The union said Thursday that it was connecting the supplier to buyers and did not have a financial interest in the sales.