On Sept. 14, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), signed contracts with nine American businesses for the delivery of 73 million COVID-19 disposable isolation gowns at a cost of $335M.

The contracts supported the replenishment of the HHS-managed Strategic National Stockpile and deliver by January 2021. These contracts had a ceiling of $1.2 billion to manufacture up to 275 million gowns if the Strategic National Stockpile required additional gowns.