New York Governor, Andrew Coumo, has lamented that the infection arising from the coronavirus is “worse and faster than predicted”.
Coumo made this known in a live press briefing on Tuesday.
There are at least 25,665 cases across the state, Gov. Cuomo said, underscoring his point that the federal government should send what it has in its ventilator stockpile to New York.
Cuomo noted that New York has the highest and the greatest rate of infection — but it’s only a matter of time it that apex moves to other parts of the countries.
Gov. Cuomo said New York’s greatest critical need is ventilators to treat “people who will have acute needs” and those “under respiratory distress” from coronavirus.
He said the state has procured 7,000, but needs at a minimum another 30,000 — and he needs them in 14 days. Ventilators will “make the difference between life and death” for some patients, Cuomo said.
Cuomo further revealed that New York is “scouring the globe” for ventilators and has resorted to trying experimental procedure where they split the ventilators between two patients because “we have no alternative.”
The governor added that the only way we can obtain these ventilators is through the federal government.
He went on to criticize President Trump for not enacting the Defense Production Act to ramp up the number of ventilators that can be made available to New York. To not use federal powers to get ventilators to New York is “inexplicable,” he said
