Posted on Apr 1, 2020 at 4:45 p.m.Updated Apr 2, 2020 9:11 AM
Monday morning, around “Pier 90”, the curious crowded behind the fences that separate Manhattan from the quay where the USNS Comfort was docking. Some remember that he once flew to the aid of New Yorkers right after the 9/11 attacks. The Navy hospital ship was expected by a population who saw the toll of the coronavirus increase in an accelerated manner: on Tuesday, the threshold of 1,000 New Yorkers dead from the virus was crossed – for more than 43,000 recorded cases.
With its 1,000 beds, it will not accommodate Covid-19 patients, but it will relieve hospitals overwhelmed by the influx of cases. “It is likely to change the situation, assured the mayor of the city, Bill De Blasio, welcoming the military boat. And it’s a great emotion to see that the country can mobilize for New York, as we will when other cities need it. “
Beds in the US Open stadium
As impressive as it is, USNS Comfort won’t be enough to end the chaos. The whole city has taken on the appearance of a battlefield. In Queens, the tennis courts where the US Open is played will accommodate beds to relieve the nearby hospital, where images of a refrigerated truck turned into a morgue have shocked public opinion.
Manhattan’s convention center, the Javits Center, has also been transformed into a hospital. In Central Park, tents have been set up to relieve congestion at the nearby Mount Sinai Hospital. Even inside the city’s “green lung”, there is now a respiratory aid unit, its 68 beds, ten ventilators, its morgue …
Basketball prohibited
Dog owners and joggers go out again. But basketball was banned from playgrounds, and the rainy weekend at least deterred New Yorkers from enjoying the flowering trees in the parks. Elsewhere, the city sometimes seems abandoned to delivery men and homeless people. On 3rd Avenue, the “Sur la table” kitchen store, which usually supplies Upper East Side dinners, has plywood panels screwed onto its windows. A practice imitated by luxury brands, which gives Manhattan an air of Paris besieged by the yellow vests.
Some food stores now deliver to the door of the store, with orders by phone the day before. Distractions are rare for New Yorkers, who rush to wine merchants, considered essential businesses and therefore remain open – some do not allow entry, however. Or in the few bars that continue to serve take out cocktails – with happy hour all day.
Orders
At home, New Yorkers order more beautifully – puzzles, electronic piano, office chairs … -, forcing some building managers to put the stop to preserve the teams who receive the packages. Others, “hundreds of thousands” according to the town hall, are now unemployed and are wondering how to pay their first rent without pay on April 1.
At 7 pm, the city has been taking its daily breath for a few days by applauding the windows to these “essential personnel” whose testimonies they read on Twitter frightened. Workers affected by the virus – nurses, doctors, but also police officers. Five employees of the NYPD, the New York Police Force, died in a week.
During his daily press conference live from the capital Albany, a two and a half hour drive from New York, State Governor Andrew Cuomo no longer wants to advance on the date of the peak of the epidemic. “Temper your expectations so that you don’t get disappointed every morning when you wake up”.
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