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Medical supply company threw out products after Trump toured its facility

CNN

June 10, 2020, 2:57 PM

A medical supply company said Tuesday that it discarded the products it had produced during President Donald Trump’s visit to its headquarters in Maine last week.

Puritan Medical Products said it had decided ahead of Trump’s visit on Friday to throw away the swabs it produced due to the number of people who would be visiting the facility, including government officials, security personnel and the media.

“Production was limited on selected machines to a reduced 15-minute demonstration period during which the President was actively touring our manufacturing floor,” the company said in a statement posted on Twitter.

“We conducted the type of full facility cleaning that was necessary” after the visit, the company said. It said all swabs it produces for COVID-19 testing purposes are also sterilized post-production.

Puritan said it also had decided in advance that it would shift Friday’s production schedule to the weekend, “which allowed for no production loss.”

Puritan Medical Products has not responded to CNN’s multiple requests for comment. The White House declined CNN’s request for comment.

Production of medical supplies has been a key issue in the U.S. amid the coronavirus pandemic, which created an unprecedented demand for various items, including personal protective equipment and the swabs used to conduct coronavirus tests.

During his visit to the facility on Friday, Trump flouted his administration’s social distancing guidelines, at one point posing for a photograph with an employee at the factory while neither he nor the woman wore face masks.

In his remarks during the tour, Trump recounted how in April the administration had dedicated $75 million in Defense Production Act funding to boost the company’s output. Because of this, Trump said, the company “will soon double” the number of foam-tip swabs it manufactures to 40 million per month, and down the line that figure is expected to reach 60 million.

During the visit, Trump also touted his administration’s handling of the pandemic and claimed it had saved “thousands” of lives, as well as his team’s efforts to fuel the expansion of American manufacturing companies.

The-CNN-Wire
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