‘I Have A Guy In China’: Inside The Pandemic Market For Medical Masks

N95 masks and nitrile gloves. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The YouTube video shows Brian Danza chronicling his victory trip to Boston in April, as he pilots a single-engine aircraft to Logan Airport.

He flew in to see the arrival of nearly 1 million medical masks he helped procure for the state from China, delivered on a now-famous flight of the New England Patriots’ jet. On the ground, as the team’s red, white and blue plane pulls up, Danza records himself saying, “My baby is here.”

Danza is part of a vast wave of people and companies finding money-making opportunities in the time of the coronavirus. They are jumping into the loosely regulated business of selling masks and other gear to hospitals and health departments scrambling to keep workers safe amid a shortage of supplies.

It’s a business many of these players knew little about before COVID-19. Some were sought out by local officials for help; others saw a chance to profit in a Wild West of inflated prices for coveted N95 masks and the like.

Read the rest of this story at WBUR’s website.