AP: Tight supplies for virus gear cost US states billions

FILE - In this March 28, 2020, file photo, Spc. Audrey Hilmer, right, of Waterloo and Army National Guard Pvt. Taylor Barkema of Gardner of the 1133rd Transportation Company of the Iowa National Guard deliver medical supplies to the Johnson County Emergency SEATS facility in Iowa City. An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices like ventilators. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette via AP, File)

Ann Quigley poses Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in a waterproof gown intended for milking cows made by Udder Tech Inc. a Rosemount, Minnesota-based dairy supply company. Minnesota bought 2,300 waterproof gowns intended for milking cows from Udder Tech Inc. The special gowns cost about $46 each when freight was included. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

FILE - In this March 26, 2020, file photo, an Indiana National Guardsman pushes a pallet of medical supplies to be delivered in Indianapolis. An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices like ventilators. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

FILE - In this April 4, 2020, file photo, Bethany White, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center supply chain manager, helps stabilize a shifting pallet of protective gowns as the third of five shipments of PPEs arrived at Sacred Heart from the state in Spokane, Wash. An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices like ventilators. (Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review via AP, File)

Wearing protective masks, ground crew at the Los Angeles International airport unload supplies of medical personal protective equipment from a China Southern cargo plane upon it's arrival on Friday, April 10, 2020. An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices like ventilators. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Cases of hand sanitizer are stacked on the retail floor and stored in a changing room for fitting bulletproof vests at the Body Armor Outlet store, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, in Salem, N.H. An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices like ventilators. Bellia's store rapidly evolved into one of the nation's 20 largest suppliers of personal protective equipment to states this past spring. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ray Bellia holds up N95 personal protective masks, used by medical and law enforcement professionals, in the warehouse of his Body Armor Outlet store, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, in Salem, N.H. Bellia's store rapidly evolved into one of the nation's 20 largest suppliers of personal protective equipment to states this past spring, according to a nationwide analysis of state purchasing data by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ann Quigley poses Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, in a waterproof gown intended for milking cows made by Udder Tech Inc., a Rosemount, Minnesota-based dairy supply company. Minnesota bought 2,300 waterproof gowns intended for milking cows from Udder Tech Inc. The special gowns cost about $46 each when freight was included. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Personal protective masks are displayed on a pallet of protective gloves in the warehouse at the Body Armor Outlet store, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, in Salem, N.H. An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices like ventilators. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ray Bellia stocks shelves with personal protective gloves, used by medical and law enforcement professionals, while unpacking pallets of other PPE goods in the warehouse of his Body Armor Outlet store, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, in Salem, N.H. A nationwide analysis of state purchasing data by The Associated Press showed governors' administrations spent at least $7 billion to purchase personal protective equipment and high-demand medical devices during the first frenzied months of the coronavirus pandemic. Bellia adapted his inventory and supply chain as the pandemic hit toward delivering PPE goods, which were a minor part of his business in previous years. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Ray Bellia holds up personal protective masks and gloves, used by medical and law enforcement professionals, in the warehouse of his Body Armor Outlet store, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, in Salem, N.H. Bellia's store rapidly evolved into one of the nation's 20 largest suppliers of personal protective equipment to states this past spring, according to a nationwide analysis of state purchasing data by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FILE - In this April 25, 2016, file photo, staff members stand near a logo for the BYD auto company as they wait for visitors at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing. The largest supplier of PPE to states this spring had never sold a single mask before the pandemic. But from mid-March to early June, Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD sold $930 million worth of masks and sanitizer to states. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

FILE - In this April 10, 2020, file photo, a ground crew at Los Angeles International Airport unload pallets of medical personal protective equipment from a China Southern cargo plane upon its arrival in Los Angeles. An Associated Press analysis shows states spent more than $7 billion this spring buying personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns as well as vital medical devices like ventilators. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)