‘Mad scramble’: Unlikely places stocked Idaho virus supplies
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Idaho government officials spent $162,500 at a women's clothing store called Fantazia Apparel in Los Angeles last spring. Another $8,500 went to specialty beer maker Clairvoyant Brewing in Boise. A producer of theatrical effects fluids in Tennessee called Froggy's Fog received $15,000.
A public records request by The Associated Press showed just how far and wide the state ranged and what odd partnerships formed as officials scrambled to obtain personal protective equipment for medical workers as the coronavirus began spreading across the U.S.
Fantazia Apparel, which specializes in "high quality tops for missy sizes," obtained 50,000 hard-to-get N95 masks through its Chinese manufacturer and sold them to Idaho at a cost of $3.25 each.
"It was very difficult to get that shipment and bring it to Los Angeles," said Fantazia CEO Dany Separzadeh. "Eventually, we managed to do it. At that time, everything was expensive."
The N95 masks were designated as "scarce materials" in March by the federal government.
In all, Idaho buyers found more than 205,000 N95 masks, spending about $770,000, or about $3.75 each - slightly more than the national average of around $3 that states were paying this spring, according to the AP's data analysis. Before the pandemic, an N95 mask might have cost around 50 cents.
The AP tallied more than $7 billion in coronavirus purchases by states this spring for personal protective equipment and high-demand medical devices such as ventilators and infrared thermometers. The data covers the period from the emergence of COVID-19 in the U.S. in early 2020 to the start of summer.
The AP's data shows that millions of dollars flowed from states to businesses that had never before sold personal protective equipment.
Clairvoyant Brewing and Froggy's Fog each supplied the state with sanitizer.
In all, state purchasers spent some $5 million in the first hectic months after the pandemic took hold while competing with buyers from other states and health care providers for scarce personal protective equipment.
"It was just a mass competition for all the same stuff," said J.P. Brady, senior buyer for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. "It was a mad scramble."
Idaho's buyers didn't always keep itemized records of their early purchases. The Department of Administration told the AP that its buyer "was unaware he needed to keep such detailed records until later in the process."
State buyers were left scrambling, in part, because the federal government's Strategic National Stockpile of equipment didn't cover the states' needs.
"I think the biggest downfall of the whole system was the Strategic National Stockpile," said Brad Richy, director of the Idaho Office of Emergency Management. "There just wasn't much to it."
Like many governors, Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued a stay-at-home order early in the pandemic, which was intended to slow the spread of the virus and give the state extra time to find supplies.
State buyers often turned to Amazon, placing 17 orders and spending more than $600,000, mainly on gloves but also disinfectant wipes, gowns and goggles.
The state spent more than $700,000 on surgical masks, more than $1 million on gowns and just under $1.4 million for gloves.
Many Idaho producers stepped up, switching production to start making masks or gowns.
"The thing that impresses me the most," said Richy, looking back on the initial days of the pandemic, "is the fact that I think we all have the ability to innovate."
