How The Patriots And Mass. Pulled Off The Flight Of A Million Medical Masks From China

Thursday evening, the New England Patriots' 767 jet landed at Logan Airport. It was packed — not with football gear, but with protective gear for health care workers on the front lines of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Specifically, the plane was carrying about one million coveted N95 face masks that have been in extremely short supply.

Gov. Charlie Baker and the Kraft family — owners of the Patriots — pulled off the feat. They purchased the masks from China. And they had a lot of help along the way, including from the U.S. China Partnership Committee.

The committee's Gene Hartigan spoke with WBUR's All Things Considered host Lisa Mullins about how it happened.