RUNNING OUT OF AIR
In 6 days, N.Y. will deplete ventilator supply, Cuomo warns, as cases soar toward 100,000
New York has just six days to breathe.
Gov. Cuomo made the dramatic revelation that the Empire State only has six days worth of ventilators on Thursday as he dispatched 400 lifesaving machines to New York City hospitals and 200 more to suburban counties.
The breathing machines have become the crucial piece of equipment sought by state and city officials as hundreds of patients a day are admitted to intensive care units.
“Right now, we have a burn rate of about six days in the stockpile,” Cuomo said. “We have extraordinary measures in place that can make a difference if we run into a real ventilator shortage.”
The governor said just 2,200 ventilators remain in the state’s stockpile. An additional 350 a day are needed to save coronavirus-stricken patients.
“If the apex happens within that time frame, if the apex increases, if the apex is longer, we have an issue with ventilators,” explained Cuomo.
“If the person comes in and needs a ventilator and you don’t have a ventilator, the person dies,” Cuomo said.
As medical supplies dwindle and the number of patients increases, there is a concern that doctors will need to make life-or-death decisions.
The Medical Society of the State of New York told hospitals Thursday that they need to have a plan in place to handle the rationing of equipment and must ensure doctors, already struggling with burnout from the ongoing epidemic, are getting the support they need as they make unthinkable decisions.
“At this point, the most difficult decisions facing physicians will have to be made,” the group said in a statement. “Already, some emergency physicians are reporting being told the equivalent of ‘Use your best judgment. You’re on your own.’”
Cuomo conceded that he has lost faith in the federal government’s ability to come to the rescue of states battling the pandemic.
“Just assume you are on your own,” Cuomo said grimly.
Cuomo’s office released 400 ventilators from stockpile Wednesday night to the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. and another 200 to Long Island and Westchester hospitals.
“I don’t want to say yet I’m confident, and it depends on how many we need, but I can say with confidence we have researched every possibility, every idea,” Cuomo said. “Every measure you can possibly take to find ventilators, this state has done. That I can promise you.”
As of Thursday morning, the governor said 432 more people died of coronavirus in New York in the past 24 hours for a total of 2,373 victims. New York City accounts for 42% of the 5,708 coronavirus deaths, he said.
In other bleak stats, Cuomo said the following:
*There are 92,381 confirmed cases in New York, up from 83,712.
*Roughly 13,383 are hospitalized across the state, up from 12,226
*Of those, approximately 3,396 are in intensive care, up from 3,022.
*In the city, there were 1,562 deaths as of Thursday evening, officials said. That was up by 165 people from Thursday morning.
*In the city, there are 10,590 hospitalized and 49,707 confirmed cases, up 2.6% from 48,462 Thursday morning, health officials said.
Much welcomed relief emerged late Thursday, when Cuomo announced the Javits Center would accept coronavirus patients after making a request to President Trump to allow the facility to treat people with the contagion.
“I asked President Trump this morning to consider the request and the urgency of the matter, and the president has just informed me that he granted New York’s request,” Cuomo said in a written statement. “I thank the president for his cooperation in this pressing matter and his expeditious decision making.”
Later, at his daily news briefing at City Hall, Mayor de
Blasio shared his ongoing concern about the availability of medical supplies, ventilators, as well as the transmission of the virus. He recommended that New Yorkers wear face protection when going outside and near other people.
“The studies are showing some asymptomatic, some pre-symptomatic people appear to be transmitting the disease,” explained the mayor.
“It could be a scarf, it could be something you create yourself at home. It could be a bandana. It does not— not—need to be a professional surgical mask,” said de Blasio. “Don’t use those … Leave those alone (for health care workers).”
Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Health, recommended cloth coverings. “The less fancy, the better,” she said, as long as it covers face and mouth. But it still doesn’t replace the need for social distancing, Barbot stressed.
Neither Trump nor Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, gave a straight answer as to whether the administration will issue a recommendation for all Americans to wear face masks in public, as some outlets have reported they will.
“I don’t think it will be mandatory because some people don’t want to do that, but if people wanted to wear them, they can,” Trump said.
Health officials have cautioned that the actual number of people infected with coronavirus in New York is likely far higher than confirmed cases because testing is not widespread enough in the city or state.
New Yorkers sick with mild COVID-19 symptoms are supposed to stay home so that they don’t further overwhelm the health care system or infect more people by traveling to hospitals for treatment. Thousands of others may not seek care or a test if they don’t show symptoms at all, and others may just assume they have a cold.