Massachusetts authorities must rush to find ways and take advantage of all relationships to bring 1.2 million Chinese N95 masks to the US by air.

14h38 on 2/4 (3h38 on 1/4 US East Coast time), Boeing 767 aircraft of New England Patriots rugby team takes off from Shenzhen city, China. In the cargo compartment of the aircraft are 1.2 million N95 masks that are on their way to the United States.

An image at the Bao'an International Airport in Shenzhen showed protective workers lined up boxes of medical equipment on red, white and blue planes bearing the Patriots team logo and the words "6 times ".

The plane was only parked at Chinese airport for 3 hours, the crew also could not leave the plane while ground staff lined up, unnamed officials involved in transport activities revealed. Loading and unloading takes 2 hours 57 minutes. The Boeing 767 landed at Boston Logan International Airport a day later.

This unusual shipment shows the urgent efforts of the US states to own Covid-19 coping equipment. This process not only involves buying goods, but also involves intermediaries and leveraging relationships to bypass the dense administrative barriers that are crippled by disease.

One of the biggest pressures on the US health system is the scarcity of N95 masks, an important tool for protecting physicians from nCoV. Demand has outstripped supply, putting health workers and patients at risk.

The purchase of 1.2 million Massachusetts masks takes weeks, starting with Governor Charlie Baker and passing through a series of embassies, private partners and one of the most successful rugby teams in the calendar. US history. The Patriots Boeing 767 must be located in Alaska, waiting for Chinese officials to approve the plan, then be allowed to fly to Shenzhen.

"I have never seen so many bureaucratic procedures and obstacles to overcome. In today's world, fortunate people who are able to make a difference like we have a huge responsibility, have to do things like so with every possible resource, "said Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots.

Governor Baker was concerned about the supply of masks in Massachusetts and reached an agreement to buy more than one million N94s from Chinese manufacturers two weeks ago. However, state officials have to find a way to remove them from China in the context of transportation has not completely recovered, while items such as masks also face difficulties in clearance.

"I have to find a way to get those goods here," Governor Baker told a longtime friend.

That friend is Jonathan Kraft, son of Robert Kraft. Jonathan is the chairman of the board of Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the most famous medical facilities in the United States, as well as the president of Patriots. This team owns a Boeing 767 and they think it can support Governor Baker's plan.

There are many difficult questions to solve. Robert and Jonathan Kraft have to see if the Boeing 767 is ready to operate, as well as whether it is capable of making long flights with such urgent preparation time. Patriots' Boeing is a passenger version, not a specialized transport.

The most important factor is to ensure that China permits the aircraft to land, which is very difficult at the time Covid-19 is spreading around the world. Even with the full license, the Patriots team leader was concerned about the risk of the flight crew having to quarantine in China 14 days before returning.

Governor Baker, US State Department, Robert Kraft and many officials sent letters to the Chinese Consulate General in New York City to ask for a special permit. The series of letters was sent from March 24 to 30, requesting Beijing to grant an exemption order for humanitarian missions and ensure the crew did not leave the aircraft.

By the evening of March 27, the crew had to fly the plane to Wilmington, Ohio because the Boeing 767 needed to upgrade its electronic system to make international flights.

China agrees to license the flight and does not require isolation, provided no one is allowed to enter the passenger compartment and the cockpit except the crew, but they still need to apply for a visa to enter the country. All Boeing 767 crew members must rush to a local drug store and take photos to apply for a visa.

Their portraits were sent to New York City for submission to the Chinese consulate, then returned to Ohio. Chinese Consulate General in New York Hoang Binh is considered an important ally in the effort to complete the procedure when the consulate is operated on weekends to ensure the completion of visas, the officials knowledgeable about the matter said. .

The plane then departed for Alaska. From that time, all passengers on the Boeing 767 could only take a scheduled leave or when the aircraft was under technical inspection. The aircraft was accompanied by technicians and replacement components to prevent technical problems while in China.

In addition to providing aircraft and logistics, the Kraft family also agreed to spend $ 2 million, equivalent to half of the value of the medical device. Massachusetts ordered 1.7 million N95 masks from manufacturers across China.

"What we need is people in the field to gather goods and get them to their destination," said Jim Nolan, managing director of Kraft Sports and Entertainment. However, they need more because batches of products need to be counted, inspected and cleared as quickly as possible.

Kraft Group is connected with Tencent Group through many intermediaries, in which Chinese enterprises are committed to providing manpower to implement this process. In the following days, Tencent employees went around checking and stocking goods.

Some factories failed to meet orders and had to wait longer than expected. Tencent employees had to look overnight, then rushed the masks to Shenzhen airport and passed them through customs.

The Patriots Boeing 767 landed in Shenzhen early in the afternoon on April 2. It was located at the airport for 2 hours and 57 minutes, almost controlling the 3-hour time frame licensed by China.

Ground personnel were not allowed on board the passenger compartment, so only 1.2 million masks were put in the aircraft's cargo hold. The remainder is being archived by Tencent and will be transferred to the US on another flight.

The Boeing 767 returned to Alaska to resupply and rest the crew, then flew to Boston, Massachusetts. However, this is not the final stop of the shipment. Robert Kraft dislikes his rival team, the New York Jets, but has always had a crush on the city.

Kraft was moved by the actions of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for weeks. He proposed the idea to Governor Baker and they agreed to send 300,000 masks to New York to support the place worst affected by the Covid-19 epidemic in the United States.