Nowhere did Corona hit as badly as in New York. At least 25,000 people have so far fallen victim to the virus. It took too long for those responsible to take the situation seriously.
By Peter Mücke, ARD-Studio New York
The pictures from New York go around the world in spring: long queues in front of the clinics, dying people in hospital corridors, refrigerated trucks to get the corpses under control. “This is a medical war zone,” says Arabia Mollette, an emergency doctor who works in a Brooklyn hospital. “Every day: pain, despair, suffering – and medical inequality.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at the beginning of March: “Sorry for our New York arrogance. But – and I am also speaking on behalf of the mayor: We have the best health system on the planet here in New York.” Mayor Bill de Blasio nods eagerly, even when Cuomo says that the two assume that things won’t be as bad here as anywhere else in the world.
Some 800 deaths a day
A fatal error: nowhere did the corona pandemic hit as badly as here in New York. At least 25,000 people have so far fallen victim to the virus. Some 800 people died a day. It shouldn’t have come to that, says German pediatrician Nils Hennig, who works at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan:
“You started taking it seriously too late and then you still reacted too slowly and not strongly enough. With consistent testing and isolation of infected people and their contacts, such an uncontrolled outbreak could have been prevented for a decade. Other countries have get that too. “
But it is taking a long time, far too long, for those responsible in New York to take the situation seriously. The first case becomes known on March 1st. A 39-year-old who recently landed at JFK Airport. Then numerous people in a New York suburb will test positive. Experts urge you to act quickly. Instead, Cuomo announced on Fox News on March 8th, “People are scared. They don’t know who to believe. This fear is more dangerous than the virus itself.”
First of all, keep it up
Although Mayor De Blasio admits that the virus could already have spread all over the city, he announces perseverance – in the interest of gastronomy: “The best thing is if we just continue as before: going out, supporting business. If you should change your behavior , then we’ll tell you. “
After that, New Yorkers don’t hear from the mayor and governor for a long time. While San Francisco and Los Angeles go into lockdown, although there are hardly any corona cases there, life in New York just goes on. Despite the rapidly increasing number of infections. New York does not follow suit until the end of March.
And Cuomo even makes fun of De Blasio’s so-called “Shelter in Place” order not to be allowed to leave the house: “Shelter in Place is ordered when there is a shooting. Or during a nuclear war when I am in the house must stay. But we are not in the post-nuclear holocaust here. “
New York takes years to recover
Today experts say: If those responsible had acted just two weeks earlier, more than half of the 25,000 corona victims would not have had to die. But not only they and their families pay a high price for the arrogance of New York politicians: a million people have lost their jobs. Two million New Yorkers depend on soup kitchens.
The city is broke and will take years to recover from the crisis. Mayor De Blasio says: “This is a scenario that can only be compared to the Great Depression. And just saying that scares me to death.”
