New York urgently seeks extra hospital space
New York is scouring the globe for desperately needed medical supplies and scouting field hospital locations in New York City and its suburbs as confirmed coronavirus cases soared above 10,000 statewide, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.
The goal is to quickly boost the state’s hospital capacity from around 50,000 beds to 75,000 beds, Cuomo said at a news briefing. The state has already hospitalized 1,600 people due to the outbreak.
The governor said the state is looking to see if Manhattan’s spacious Javits Center could be suitable for 1,000 requested beds supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in a “tent configuration” with equipment and staff.
Possible locations for temporary hospital structures built by the Army Corps of Engineers include Stony Brook University and SUNY College at Old Westbury on Long Island, and the Westchester County Center north of the city. Sites will be reviewed Saturday, he said.
“Everything that can be done is being done,” Cuomo said.
Officials have identified 2 million face masks that can be sent to hot spots, Cuomo said, and apparel companies are pivoting to make masks. One million masks are being sent to New York City hospitals Saturday, and 500,000 to Long Island. And with hospital gowns in short supply, the state is trying to obtain gown material for apparel makers, he said.
The state is also rounding up critically needed ventilators from around the state and purchasing 6,000 to deploy to the most critical areas, Cuomo said. And they are investigating whether multiple patients can be served by a single ventilator.
“We are literally scouring the globe looking for medical supplies,” Cuomo said.
New York has seen about 10,400 coronavirus cases, and about 1,600 people hospitalized. Spread of the rapidly advancing virus has strained health care systems across the globe, and three American states with a combined population of 70 million are moving to restrict residents to their homes to prevent its spread. California started restricting residents Friday, and New York and Illinois were to follow this weekend. Connecticut and Oregon were preparing to do the same.
In the U.S., the restrictions on movement were taking effect Saturday in Illinois and Sunday in New York. All workers in nonessential businesses will be required to stay home and gatherings of any size are banned in New York. Exceptions will be made for important errands, such as buying groceries and medicine, and for exercise.
The lockdowns in California and other states sent stock markets tumbling Friday. Wall Street had its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling more than 900 points and down 17% for the week. NYC and Philly airports: The Federal Aviation Administration briefly suspended flights to New York Cityarea airports Saturday because of coronavirus-related staffing issues at a regional air-traffic control center.
In the alert posted online, the agency advised air traffic controllers to “stop all departures” to Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark and other airports in the region. The directive also affected Philadelphia International Airport.
The halt was lifted after about 30 minutes.
Rescue legislation: In Washington, D.C., negotiators from Congress and the White House were resuming top-level talks Saturday on a ballooning $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package, racing to strike a deal after President Donald Trump unleashed fury on those questioning his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
It was an extraordinary moment in Washington — Congress undertaking the most ambitious federal effort yet to shore up households and the U.S. economy and an angry president lashing out at all comers.
When one reporter asked Trump what he would tell a worried nation Friday, the president snapped, “I say that you’re a terrible reporter.”
On Capitol Hill, key congressional and White House officials converged Saturday for more talks. The sweeping aid package of paychecks for suddenly jobless Americans, money for hospitals and aid to industry is all but certain to swell far beyond the initial $1 trillion price tag. Combined with other actions by the Federal Reserve, it could be a $2 trillion pump to the economy, officials said Saturday.
The Senate was convening the rare weekend session with the aim of drafting the package Saturday, holding an initial vote Sunday and winning Senate passage on Monday.
“We need to act with urgency, we need to act with significance, we need to act with boldness,”
White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland told reporters.
Despite the enormous pressure on Washington to swiftly act, the challenges are apparent. Lawmakers and administration officials labored late into the evening Friday over eye-popping sums and striking federal interventions, surpassing even the 2008-09 bank bailout and stimulus.