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St. Pete's mayor wants President Trump to 'fully enforce' the Defense Production Act

Mayor Rick Kriseman joined other mayors in asking the federal government to heighten its coronavirus response.
Credit: 10News WTSP

Hospitals don't have enough breathing machines to meet the demand expected from the coronavirus pandemic.

As more people get sick, more ventilators are needed.

On Friday, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act. It gives the government authority to tell private companies to start manufacturing essential products like those ventilators.

General Motors has spent nearly two weeks building the breathing machines and expects to produce up to 10,000 per month beginning in mid-April. The company's work began before the president's announcement.

Now, mayors across the country are urging Trump to double down on the Defense Production Act and increase private companies' production of medical supplies to help cities respond to the pandemic.

The United States Conference of Mayors sent a letter to the commander in chief following what they described as an "alarming shortage of medical supplies."

"Our cities and our nation need the full strength and authority of the federal government if we are going to protect our workers and save as many lives as possible," the mayors wrote in their letter. "Full enforcement of the Defense Production Act must be a central component of the federal effort."

The mayors say it is critical for the U.S. to develop a nationwide production and supply chain to quickly get medical materials into the hands of doctors and nurses around the country.

RELATED: Trump activates emergency resources for Washington, California, New York

RELATED: What is the Defense Production Act?

St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman is among the mayors calling for the president to more greatly enforce the Defense Production Act to "mitigate the worst impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak."

“My fellow mayors remain focused on the worst public health crisis our nation has faced in recent memory," Mayor Kriseman wrote in a statement. "Cities around the nation are facing shortages when it comes to necessary equipment and supplies to safeguard our first responders and residents. Now is the time for politicians in Washington to lead."

The mayor said he echoed the call from his fellow mayors for more significant action from the White House.

Erik Gordon, a University of Michigan law and business professor, spoke with CBS News and explained that many of the people calling on the president to invoke the Defense Production Act more broadly want the federal government to take control of the production, supply and distribution of protective gear and ventilators. As Gordon explains, the act was not meant to be used against a single company like GM -- but rather to help the whole system work more efficiently.

As CBS reports -- even with increased production -- the U.S. might not have enough ventilators. 

One expert told CBS that U.S. hospitals currently have about 65,000 of the ventilators that are "sophisticated enough" to treat COVID-19 patients. Even if the country managed to cobble together 170,000, including some simpler devices, a doctor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center suggested to CBS that 960,000 people may soon need to be on such life-saving machines in the U.S.

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