Connecticut has received its largest shipment of personal protective gear since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday.

The equipment, which includes 6 million surgical masks 500,000 protective masks, 100,000 surgical gowns, and 100,000 temporal thermometers came from suppliers in China over the last few days to the state's commodities warehouse.

Lamont says this shipment will supply the state for two months. The National Guard is sorting through it at a warehouse in New Britain.

The equipment will then be delivered within days to front-line workers, including first responders, hospital staff, long-term care facility staff, direct care providers and other people on the front lines.

"Here today, they're fighting the COVID. They're operating 24/7," says Major Gen. Francis Evon, of the National Guard. "They were here on Mother’s Day. They were here on Easter."

The state’s Public Health Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell was also fired Tuesday. She has been criticized for a slow response to COVID-19 outbreaks in nursing homes.

She hasn't appeared at a press conference in five weeks since news broke of her deputy quitting reportedly over a discrimination claim.

"I wanted to make an organizational change. I thought we'd be better positioned as a state going forward," says Lamont.

In a statement, Coleman-Mitchell says, "I was informed by the governor's staff that the decision ... was not related to job performance. I take them at their word."

Lamont says this will probably be the last order from China, but are still getting shipments from in the U.S.

Small businesses can ask for PPE, but only if they can't get the equipment themselves.

As of May 11, the state has delivered a total of 15,186,349 pieces of PPE to front line workers including: