The Pentagon is stepping in to aid the coronavirus outbreak, with Defense Secretary Mark Esper saying the military would donate up to 5 million respirators to hospitals, with 1 million being made available immediately.

Esper said the military also would donate 2,000 ventilators held in reserve, as part of the scramble to get U.S. hospitals staffed and outfitted for an anticipated crush of victims of the coronavirus.

Ventilators have become an acute issue, with only about 62,000 in use and others in stockpile, but an anticipated need that is far greater. The military normally keeps respirators on hand to protect troops from whatever they might encounter on the battlefield. 

Some of the respirators are intended for 'single-use,' Esper said. In the case of ventilators, training would be required, with the military available to step in to teach civilians on their use. Officials have struggled to get the critical equipment on-line, and it requires technical aptitude to properly monitor patients experiencing breathing issues or lung failure.

Esper said the Navy would make available two hospital ships, the USNS Comfort in Norfolk, Virginia and the USNS Mercy in San Diego to assist in assisting hospitals ill-prepared for an anticipated flood of patients. However the Pentagon has noted they are not designed for being stocked with patients with a highly contagious disease. 

Esper said he will consult with state and local governments about deploying M.A.S.H. hospitals, an idea President Donald Trump mentioned at a press briefing Tuesday. They can help relieve hospital rooms that may become overrun, he said. 

The announcement of the flow of military equipment came on a day Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday urged construction firms to donate specialized N95 masks to their local hospitals as the government tries to head off a rush of demand for equipment to protect doctors and nurses from the coronavirus outbreak. 

Pence made the plea at a televised press conference along with President Trump and top government health officials, amid a nationwide shortage of equipment.

Trump said he has started the process of having the U.S. Army Corps of engineers construct field hospitals to boost the volume of hospitals beds. 'We are starting the process,' he said. He said they would be M.A.S.H. hospitals, or United States Army Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals.