New York travels the world in search of desperately needed medical supplies and explores places that can be used as temporary hospitals in New York City and its suburbs, as confirmed cases of coronavirus soared above 11,000 across the globe. the state, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.
The goal is to rapidly increase the state’s hospital capacity currently from around 50,000 beds to 75,000 beds, Cuomo said.
The state has already hospitalized 1,600 people.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a “Declaration of Major Disaster” to the state, freeing access to billions of dollars in relief funds.
The governor said the state is studying to see if Manhattan’s spacious Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, normally the venue for the auto show and other major events, might be suitable for 1,000 field hospital beds. Requested that they would be supplied by FEMA in a “store setup” with equipment and personnel.
On a parallel highway, the state is also exploring four locations for temporary hospitals to be built by the Army Corps of Engineers. Possible sites include the Javits Center in the city, Stony Brook University and SUNY College at Old Westbury on Long Island, and Westchester County Center north of the city. The sites will be reviewed Saturday, the governor said.
“Everything that can be done is being done,” Cuomo said.
New York State has more than 11,000 confirmed cases and 56 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
Authorities have identified 2 million masks that can be shipped to places where they are needed, Cuomo said, and clothing companies are swinging to make masks.
One million masks will be shipped Saturday to New York City hospitals, and 500,000 to Long Island. And with the shortage of hospital gowns, the state is trying to obtain gown material for clothing manufacturers, Cuomo said.
Due to dwindling supplies, hospitals have been rationing supplies and asking staff to reuse the masks until they get dirty.
The state is also trying to secure critically needed ventilators (respirators), buying 6,000 to deploy in the most critical areas and investigating whether multiple patients can be cared for with a single ventilator, Cuomo said.
“We are literally touring the world in search of medical supplies,” said the governor.
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