National Guard will be deployed to move life-saving ventilators as New York coronavirus cases soar past 100,000 – The Sun
THE National Guard will be deployed to move critical ventilators around New York as coronavirus cases soar past 100,000 in-state.
New York Governor Cuomo said he would be mandating the movement of supplies at his daily press briefing Friday, as cases surged to 102,863.
"I am signing an Executive Order allowing the state to take ventilators and PPE from institutions that don't need them and deploy them [to hospitals in need]," he told reporters.
"The National Guard will be mobilized to move ventilators to where they are urgently required to save lives.
Cuomo has repeated called for more Federal supplies in recent weeks, citing the need for around 30,000 ventilators after 2,935 people died from the killer bug – a jump of 562 since yesterday.
There are currently 14,810 people hospitalized, he said, with 3,731 ICU patients who depend on ventilators to stay alive.
He acknowledged that discharges and admissions were both rising as the deadly disease spread around the state.
'SHARING RESOURCES'
But Cuomo said some hospitals and institutions with excess equipment and ventilators don't necessarily want to hand them over.
He vowed the State will either return the machines or reimburse them under the new order.
"[Some institutions] are reluctant to see them go out the door," he said.
"I can’t do anything more than that. I can’t be in a position where people are dying and we have vents. I will pay you for the ventilator but I’m not going to let people die."
The State tracks the in-state hotspots on a nightly basis, the governor said, adding they were "very concerned" now that Long Island was starting to "light up" with cases.
However, he insisted they were not "seizing" supplies from medical facilities who refused to comply with the order, but "sharing resources."
"Am I seizing vents? No, I’m taking excess equipment to save lives," he said.
"It’s about doing the right thing to save lives."
The governor has previously said the peak of the disease in New York could happen in seven to 21 days.
Yesterday, he pointed out that if people adhered to social distancing measures and stayed at home, this could decrease the amount of ventilators and beds they need.
NY CURVE
Cuomo didn't believe the Federal government had enough supplies in their stockpile to cater for every state's COVID curve after the Trump administration send 4,400 ventilators to NY.
He reiterated his appeal for supplies to distributed to whichever state is in need at a particular time, with New York being "the tip of the spear" right now.
"Systematize that charity and that expertise and that’s how we’ll beat that damn virus as it marches across the country," Cuomo said.
"The reality is how do you handle this operationally unless you go [from] place-to-place with the proviso each state has to help."
Commissioner of Health for New York Dr Howard Zucker also seemed to reject NYC Mayor de Blasio's guidance for New Yorkers to start wearing "homemade" face coverings Thursday.
Zucker said there was "no data to support the effectiveness of face masks" while Cuomo conceded they "couldn't hurt."
"Could it hurt, might it help? I think it’s fair to say yes, but don’t get a false sense of security […] because you’re wearing a bandana," the governor said.
Echoing President Trump's advice, De Blasio advised people to "wear a face covering when you go outside and will be near other people," to reduce the community spread.
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