An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices such as ventilators.
The data obtained from states through open-records requests is the most comprehensive accounting to date of how much states were spending and whom they were paying during a chaotic period at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some states paid as much as $11 for individual N95 masks, which could have been bought for around 50 cents before the pandemic.
