Federal officials have distributed over half a million pieces of personal protective equipment after the FBI has seized vital supplies such as face masks and hand sanitizers from hoarders who were reselling them for profit.
In a joint operation by the Human Services and the Departments of Health and Justice, officials have provided frontliners of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic with essentials including N95 face masks, hand sanitizers, surgical gowns, and disinfectant wipes.
According to the reports, the authorities have supplied a total of 200,000 seized N95 face masks to health workers in New York and New Jersey.
As the government confirmed, the hoarders will be reimbursed for the seized items under “pre-COVID-19 fair market value.”
“Cracking down on the hoarding of vital supplies allows us to distribute this material to the heroic healthcare workers on the frontlines who are most in need,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar expressed.
The officials have also warned people that they will continue to crack down on hoarders who aim to profit from the crisis by reselling stocked essentials.
“If you are amassing critical medical equipment for the purpose of selling it at exorbitant prices, you can expect a knock at your door,” Attorney General William Barr warned.
“The Department of Justice’s COVID-19 Hoarding and Price Gouging Task Force is working tirelessly around the clock with all our law enforcement partners to ensure that bad actors cannot illicitly profit from the COVID-19 pandemic facing our nation.”
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Replaced!