NYC Auctioned Off Stockpiled Ventilators Meant for a Pandemic: Report

A ventilator and other hospital equipment is seen in an emergency field hospital to aid in the COVID-19 pandemic in Central Park in New York City on March 30, 2020. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Hundreds of ventilators owned by New York City as part of its emergency stockpile were auctioned off at least five years ago under the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio, according to reports.

The ventilators, and “a supply of facemasks,” were purchased by the city in 2006 under then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a measure to prepare New York City to handle a potential pandemic, akin to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.