New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft sent the team plane to China to pick up new protective gear for medical personnel.
The plane was on the ground for just under three hours in Shenzhen as workers in masks and full-body suits loaded boxes of N95 masks onto the plane, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker had arranged to purchase 1.7 million of the protective face masks from several manufacturers across the country. The logistics of flying them out of China required more help, however.
Kraft and his son Jonathan also agreed to pay $2 million, or approximately half the cost of the masks, according to the report.
The crew was required to remain on the plane during the loading of the cargo in part to avoid having to quarantine in the country for two weeks.
Only 1.2 million of the masks fit on the plane, which is designed to carry passengers and not cargo. The other half a million masks will be transported on another shipment, the newspaper reported.
At Robert Kraft’s request, Massachusetts will send 300,000 of the masks to New York.
As of Thursday morning, there are 7,738 confirmed coronavirus cases in Massachusetts and 83,901 in New York.
No days off. Thanks to some serious teamwork, Massachusetts is set to receive over 1 million N95 masks for our front-line workers. Huge thanks to the Krafts and several dedicated partners for making this happen. pic.twitter.com/ieV6XMC5Ow
— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) April 2, 2020