Dozens of nonprofits and government agencies will receive surplus gowns, goggles and cleaning supplies originally purchased for COVID-19 protection.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday authorized the county administrator to distribute the supplies after an ABC7 investigative team discovered that millions of dollars worth of protective equipment was left out in the open by the local government.
The county itself detailed in a statement that last fall, approximately 7 million dollars worth of supplies stored at the San Mateo Event Center were left exposed to the elements during a storm.
He noted that San Mateo County purchased such equipment early in the pandemic, when jurisdictions across the country were racing to secure the materials needed to keep the community and frontline workers safe amid uncertain circumstances.
He also pointed out that most of these supplies, which are not of micro-grade, were individually wrapped in plastic inside boxes that, although they got wet, were not damaged at all.
As the Board's management at yesterday's meeting, Tuesday, authorized county staff to distribute to organizations the equipment that