He didn’t say how, but New York State Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order requiring hospitals to increase their intake capacity by at least 50%. The establishments already knew that. Experts had been announcing for several days a influx of patients in New York .
The figures have confirmed it: the death toll has exceeded 20,000 cases Monday in the state, including more than 13,000 in New York City. And 5,000 additional patients are diagnosed every day. Half of the cases in the United States are now in the state, which represents only 6% of the total population.
One in 1,000 people have contracted the virus, a rate more than five times higher than other affected areas. This explosion of cases is intriguing. “Clearly, the virus is circulating [à New York] for several weeks, to have this high penetration rate ”White House coordinator Deborah Birx said Monday. The high urban concentration and the openness of the city to the world could explain the phenomenon, but it is above all the new availability of tests that has caused the figures to soar (and 28% of tests are positive in New York ).
Emergency places
Faced with these worrying data, New York is organizing itself as best it can, in an emergency. It should now reach a capacity of 140,000 beds (against a normal capacity of 53,000) within two weeks, the expected peak, which will be higher and will arrive earlier than expected. It is for the moment the system D. In mid-April, the Comfort, a military boat, should arrive in the port of the city and relieve a little the hospitals, with its 1,000 beds. But, until then, we must hold on …
Most hospitals have postponed all operations that were not urgent. They have also just banned all visits, including those of fathers whose wife has just given birth. The testimonies of the hospital staff all speak of the chaos that reigns there. Dozens of patients sometimes wait several hours before being received, operating theaters have been set up as special Covid-19 units, walls are being built in an emergency … All while basic protective equipment is starting to run out.
The state managed to procure, urgently, nearly 600,000 masks and 176,000 pairs of gloves. Washington has also sent 400 respirators to the city, in addition to the 2,000 available. ” It will make a real difference », Welcomed Mayor Bill De Blasio, whose management is criticized . More than 30,000 retired health professionals have also responded to the state’s call and have returned to service.
The Javits Center, a large convention center in Manhattan, is being transformed into a makeshift hospital. He should be ready for a thousand patients within a week. About 350 doctors and nurses will be on site. “In many respects, we have exhausted all the solutions available to us”, released Tuesday Andrew Cuomo, fatalist …
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