The Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks, in collaboration with the NBA and China's Consul General Huang Ping, are donating 1 million surgical masks to essential workers across the state of New York.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shared the news and a message of gratitude on Twitter:

A shortage of N95 masks has become a problem for essential workers across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Per Vox's Lois Parshley, healthcare workers throughout the United States have done things ranging from washing disposable masks to wearing trash bags to cover their mouths and clean equipment with "unproven methods" because of not having adequate supplies available. 

According to CNN, the state of New York has the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. with 113,806.