New England Patriots' truck delivers masks to New York to help coronavirus effort

[April 04, 2020]    (Reuters) - A truck emblazoned with the colors of the New England Patriots football team was out on the streets of New York on Friday, delivering 300,000 N95 masks to a makeshift hospital set up in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

A truck belonging to the N.F.L. team the New England Patriots arrives with a police escort at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center as it delivers 300,000 N95 masks that will help support health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., April 3, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

New York state recorded more than 500 coronavirus-related deaths in a single day on Friday, bringing the statewide total to nearly 3,000.

The Patriots, who are based in Foxborough, Massachusetts, received a shipment of 1.7 million N95 masks from China earlier this week after the team's owner, Robert Kraft, and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker partnered to buy the much-needed supplies to help protect healthcare workers on the front lines.

The NFL team said on Thursday it would send 1.4 million of the masks to hospitals in Massachusetts, with the remaining ones going to New York.

(Writing by Diane Craft, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

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