New York: Ventilators forced to be distributed
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has signed an order which will force ventilators to be shifted from certain New York hospitals to the worst-hit parts of the state. COVID-19 deaths are rising in New York it saw the highest single-day increase in deaths, up by 562 to 2,935 – nearly half of all virus-related US deaths recorded yesterday.
To help slow the spread, the White House may advise people, in virus hot zones, to wear face coverings. The US now has 245,658 COVID-19 cases. New York is the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak and it faced a shortage of several hundred ventilators. This shortage prompted Cuomo to say that that the ventilators from various parts of the state will be given to the harder-hit areas.
Top health officials Dr. Anthony Fauci says that he believes all states should issue stay-at-home orders. “I don’t understand why that’s not happening,” Dr. Fauci told CNN on Thursday. “If you look at what’s going on in this country, I just don’t understand why we’re not doing that.” He referred to the growing cases and deaths, said, “You’ve got to put your foot on the accelerator to bring that number down.”
Dr. Fauci heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. His comments appear contradictory to President Trump’s. Trump has repeatedly dismissed the notion of a nationwide lockdown. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday, “It’s awfully tough to say, ‘close it down.’ We have to have a little bit of flexibility.”
New York has at least 102, 863 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus. The more than 500 person spike in deaths state-wide over the past day is more than half of that reported in a single day in both Spain and Italy, the countries with the greatest fatalities. Johns Hopkins University reports New York City is the worst-hit area of the state, with 1,562 deaths.
