<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598386034944.jpeg" alt="Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, says he's disappointed state emergency management officials confirmed Tuesday the purchase of hospital gowns that turned out to be trash bags with arm holes cut in the corner. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, says he's disappointed state emergency management officials confirmed Tuesday the purchase of hospital gowns that turned out to be trash bags with arm holes cut in the corner. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/25/kansas-pandemic-purchases-include-gowns-that-were-trash-bags-with-holes-cut-for-arms/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Kansas 
director of emergency management said Tuesday state purchases of $64 
million in personal protective equipment during the pandemic included 
substandard N95 respirator masks and bogus surgical gowns that were 
little more than plastic bags with openings for a person’s arms.Maj. Gen. David Weishaar, 
adjutant general of the Kansas National Guard and the state director of 
emergency management, told an interim committee of the Kansas 
Legislature about the acquisition of flawed equipment acquired since the
 pandemic emerged in March. The disclosure, which apparently surfaced 
Monday during a closed meeting with legislators, came as the committee 
considered possible amendments to the state’s emergency management act.Sen. Dennis Pyle, a 
Hiawatha Republican, said the volume of equipment purchased by local, 
state and federal government agencies in response to spread of COVID-19 
represented as an opportunity for fraud. He speculated greedy 
individuals may have an interest in perpetuating the pandemic to score 
big profits.“Is that a real possibility?” Pyle said. “I have some real concerns.”Weishaar said a portion of
 deficient or unusable supplies making it to Kansas went back to 
manufacturers or the federal government. The not-as-advertised N95 masks
 can be used in instances when a lower level of protection is required, 
he said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598386088642.jpeg" alt="Kansas National Guard Maj. Gen. David Weishaar told a joint committee of the Kansas Legislature that portions of personal protective equipment purchased by state emergency management staff was unusable or inferior. (Submitted/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Kansas National Guard Maj. Gen. David Weishaar told a joint committee of the Kansas Legislature that portions of personal protective equipment purchased by state emergency management staff was unusable or inferior. (Submitted/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Pyle picked up the 
wasteful-spending thread during testimony by Lee Norman, secretary of 
the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.“Are there any guidelines that have been established or put in place?” the senator said.Norman said KDHE’s 
laboratory purchased only equipment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration. KDHE decided in March not to invest millions of dollars 
in doses of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, which were touted by 
politicians and other individuals as beneficial in dealing with 
COVID-19.“We chose to take a pass on it at that time,” he said. “I think we were right. Time will tell.”He said he referred to the
 attorney general’s office evidence a Kansas hospital was marketing an 
antibody test for COVID-19 that falsely concluded someone testing 
positive for the virus wouldn’t come down with it again.KDHE has reported more 
than 38,000 positive tests, 426 fatalities and 2,100 hospitalizations 
related to the coronavirus in Kansas. Currently, KDHE says the rate of 
positive tests hovered at 10.3%, despite a national average of 5.3%.Norman said 
hospitalizations and deaths were trending downward and that the capacity
 of Kansas hospitals had bed and ventilator capacity to deal with a 
surge. He also said KDHE had no plans to require Kansans to take a 
COVID-19 vaccine.Rep. Eric Smith, the 
Burlington Republican, said he was frustrated by news reporting that 
declared people who visited a lake together and subsequently came down 
with COVID-19 acquired the virus at the lake. He said no one can 
definitively say those people were infected at the lake.He said it would be 
wonderful if the state could test 60% or 70% of its 3 million residents 
for COVID-19 to determine more precisely status of the virus in Kansas. 
KDHE says the state’s testing capacity ranges from 8,500 to 9,000 tests 
per day.Shawnee Republican Sen. 
Mike Thompson questioned the work of KDHE and pointed to the prevalence 
of false positives from coronavirus testing, the economic damage of 
temporarily closing Kansas businesses and the state’s burn through 
approximately $1 billion in unemployment benefits.“In my estimation,” Thompson said, “we’re scaring people unnecessarily.”During the hearing at the 
Capitol, Weishaar said he would appreciate the Legislature and Gov. 
Laura Kelly take steps to amend the emergency law to strike a provision 
granting the adjutant general authority to assume law enforcement duties
 in an emergency. He said it made sense for the adjutant general to 
assist local authorities in securing an area struck by disaster, such as
 the city of Greensburg after it was flattened by a tornado.“To me, that doesn’t mean I’m going to write a speeding ticket,” he said. “I’m not a law enforcement authority.”Rep. John Barker, 
Republican from Abilene, pushed back against the adjutant general’s 
recommendation. He said it made more sense for the state’s emergency 
response officials to possess broad authority during a crisis.Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.&nbsp;

Kan. pandemic purchases? Trash-bag gowns with holes cut for arms