Governor Mike Dunleavy welcomed a Samaritan’s Purse DC-8 aircraft, carrying nearly 18,000 pounds of critical medical supplies, at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Monday, April 6.
The Governor discussed the donation of supplies at a press briefing Monday evening. He was joined by Alaska Emergency Operations Center Incident Commander Bryan Fisher to discuss the status of preparations for the treatment of Alaskans infected with COVID-19. Alaska’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anne Zink also delivered an update on the status of COVID-19 in the state.
Governor Dunleavy: “Today, we’re very fortunate in conversations with Samaritan’s Purse, the Graham family, and others have a real interest in Alaska – they have a presence in Alaska. You’ve probably heard about Samaritan’s Purse setting up a field hospital in New York City and helping with equipment and personnel in New York City. Well, we’re fortunate today that Samaritan’s Purse arrived in Alaska with a jet full of supplies for Alaska. So, nearly 18,000 pounds of medical supplies arrived in Anchorage today and these medical supplies will augment existing stockpiles in growing stockpiles for eight rural hub communities in the state of Alaska. So, those supplies will be going out to those hub communities to get our rural communities prepared for what we do believe is the eventual arrival of this virus into rural Alaska.”
When asked why Samaritan’s Purse’s donation will be focused on rural communities, the Governor explained: “In terms of the specifics of how Samaritan’s Purse’s supplies were dived up, I believe there was a request by Samaritan’s Purse that – since they do a lot of work in rural communities and rural Alaska, and they understand the difficulties and problems that could arise from a virus getting into rural Alaska – I believe they asked that the supplies they bring to Alaska be focused on rural Alaska.”
He also offered details on the sorts of supplies that will be headed to the rural hubs: “In terms of the equipment and supplies coming off the Samaritan’s Purse delivery today, we have 27 hospital beds, a number of hospital beds with mattresses, we have drapes, we have towels, we have gloves – 5,400 gloves for examining, we also have surgical masks, and then 200,000+ of other forms of surgical masks. So, there are a number of pieces of equipment that have come out here.”
Samaritan’s Purse is a Christian humanitarian aid organization that provides aid to people in physical need as a key part of its Christian missionary work. Samaritan’s Purse works in more than 100 countries.