De Blasio announces Trump has sent 4,000 ventilators to New York

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday afternoon that President Trump has sent 4,000 ventilators to New York after being slammed by Gov. Cuomo for only sending 400 this morning when the state needs at least 30,000 to fight the coronavirus. 

De Blasio announced the new ventilators at a press conference, hours after Cuomo and Trump publicly traded insults over one another’s handling of the crisis. 

Cuomo had complained on Tuesday about receiving only 400 ventilators from FEMA  when he needs 30,000 and told the president: ‘What am I meant to do with 400? You want a pat on the back for that?’ 

Trump, in a town hall later in the afternoon, tried to shirk the blame for the shortage, saying Cuomo had the chance to buy 15,000 ventilators in 2015 but didn’t. 

At around 4pm, De Blasio announced that 4,000 were now on the way. 

‘A short time ago I got the very good news that 4,000 ventilators from the federal government are on their way to New York State in the next 48 hours and half of them will come to New York City.

‘That’s great news but that’s only the beginning of what we need. With the rate of increase of this disease, we need ventilators to be constantly supplied until we get to the point we’re absolutely sure we have an ample supply.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed on Tuesday that the government was sending 4,000 additional ventilators to New York 

A patient is taken to hospital in an ambulance amid the outbreak of coronavirus in New York City

A patient is taken to hospital in an ambulance amid the outbreak of coronavirus in New York City

‘We’re going to need many more,’ he said.

‘This is a race against time. Every one of us here who is in charge of fighting this battle, we are all racing against time. We need our federal government to join us in that race against time,’ he said. 

Speaking at the Javits Center, which will become a temporary field hospital in New York City with 1,000 hospital beds, Cuomo revealed that the number of coronavirus cases across the state of New York had risen to 25,000 and 15,000 in New York City, overnight. 

He needs 30,000 ventilators to treat the wave of patients who will soon need care but FEMA has only given the state 400 from a stockpile of 20,000. 

‘You pick the 26,000 who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators,’ he said on Tuesday in an angry plea to the government to share more. 

Cuomo’s math was off: if every sick person who he says needs a ventilator didn’t receive one from the federal government, the true death toll would be even higher at 29,600.  

He went on to say that Trump and the government have told him they will not release the ventilators ‘because companies are coming forward who want to do it.’  

Trump boasted about the ventilators on Twitter, saying on Tuesday morning: ‘Just got 400 ventilators to NYC!’ 

On Tuesday afternoon, after Cuomo criticized him, the president spoke at a live Fox town hall where he said Cuomo ‘had the chance to buy 15,000 ventilators in 2015’ but didn’t. The president is determined to get the country back to where it was by Easter, and says he wouldn’t shut down for the flu so should not have to for coronavirus. 

Cuomo said on Tuesday that for him, the fight was about doing anything necessary to protect the vulnerable population. He agreed with Trump not wanting to keep the country on lock-down and said it was ‘unsustainable’, but that the economy had to come second to public health. 

New York is now so desperate for the ventilators that doctors have begun experimenting by having two patients share one at the same time.

Gov. Cuomo fumed earlier in the day that he needs 30,000 ventilators but that only 400 have been delivered to the state of New York

Gov. Cuomo fumed earlier in the day that he needs 30,000 ventilators but that only 400 have been delivered to the state of New York 

Four hundred ventilators will delivered to New York City by FEMA on Tuesday

Four hundred ventilators will delivered to New York City by FEMA on Tuesday 

Cuomo fears the numbers are going to continue to rise. 

Trump on Tuesday tweeted proudly about the 400 ventilators he had sent to New York

Trump on Tuesday tweeted proudly about the 400 ventilators he had sent to New York 

He is urging the government to look at what is happening in his state and learn from the pandemic there in order to be prepared for other states. 

‘We have procured 7,000 ventilators – we need another 30,000. You cannot find them. You cannot buy them. 

‘This is a critical and desperate need. 

‘We’re going so far as to trying an experimental procedure where we split the ventilator – you use one ventilator for two patients with two sets of tubes,’ he said. 

Cuomo warned that the ‘apex’ of the virus will hit New York in just 14-21 days.  

He predicts the state will need 140,000 hospital beds including 40,000 ICU beds and 30,000 ventilators. 

Cuomo described New York as the ‘canary int he coal mine’ of the virus pandemic.   

‘We have the highest and fastest rate of infection,’ he said, adding that it was not because New Yorkers were any less healthy than other states but that it was the state doing the most testing and therefore producing the highest number of positive cases. 

‘We’re just getting there first – deploy the resources here in New York for our apex and then after the apex passes here, once we’re passed the critical point, deploy the ventilators to where they are needed.  

Proxima surgical gowns were among the many supplies at the Javits Center, one of several field hospitals that will be set up in Manhattan

Proxima surgical gowns were among the many supplies at the Javits Center, one of several field hospitals that will be set up in Manhattan 

There are also a large number of N-95 masks at the center. They are one of the hardest things to source

There are also a large number of N-95 masks at the center. They are one of the hardest things to source 

Boxes of face masks piled high at the Javits Center in anticipation of the wave of patients that is expected in several weeks

Boxes of face masks piled high at the Javits Center in anticipation of the wave of patients that is expected in several weeks 

‘We are just a test case. That’s how the nation should look at it. Look at us today. 

‘Where we are today, you will be in three weeks, four weeks, six weeks – we are your future and what we do here will chart the course for what you do. 

‘I’m not asking you to help New York just to help New York. I’m asking you to help New York to help yourselves. 

‘Let’s learn how to do it right and right here – act as one nation here and we learn the lesson here, we will save lives in your community, I promise you that,’ he said. 

NEW YORK CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS 

CASES: 25,000 

CURRENT HOSPITAL BEDS: 53,000

HOSPITAL BEDS NEEDED: 140,000 

CURRENT VENTILATORS: 7,000

VENTILATORS NEEDED: 30,000 

Since yesterday, there are 4,790 new cases of the virus in the state of New York. There are 2,599 new cases in New York City alone. 

Cuomo said the peak is coming faster than anticipated.  

‘The increase in cases continues unabated. The rate of increase has gone up, it’s doubling every three days. 

‘That is a dramatic increase in the rate of infection. We were looking at a freight train – we’re now looking at a bullet train. 

‘We haven’t flattened the curve. The curve is actually increasing. 

‘The anticipated need now is 140,000 hospital beds and approximately 40,000 ICU beds. Those are troubling and astronomical numbers. 

‘They project at this time could be 14-21 days away – not only do we have a spike in the increase, when you spike the increase in cases it accelerates the apex. 

‘We’re doing everything we can on every level to slow the spread,’ he said.

There is an urgent need for hospital beds; the state only currently has 53,000 and Cuomo predicts 140,000 will be needed.  

‘I will turn this state upside down to get the number of beds we need. 

‘We’re calling all professionals in the healthcare field – we want to enlist as many staff as we can and as many back up staff, because healthcare workers will get sick.’ 

Dow surges more than 1,500 points as Wall Street bounces back from three-year lows on hope $2tr coronavirus rescue bill is close

US stocks joined a worldwide rally on Tuesday as optimism rose, for one day at least, that government officials and central banks are unleashing enough aid to ease the economic pain caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Dow jumped more than 1,500 points and the S&P 500 surged more than 7% in midday trading as a wave of buying interrupted what has been a brutal month of nearly nonstop selling.

Stocks had bounced back from three-year lows with the optimism was born in part out of signs that Congress and the White House are nearing an agreement on close to $2 trillion in aid for the economy.

Top congressional and White House officials said they expect to reach an agreement Tuesday on the relief package, though some issues remain. Investors have been frustrated waiting for the U.S. government to do what it can to help the economy, which is increasingly shutting down by the day, after the Federal Reserve has done nearly all it can.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1,130.26 points (6.08%), at the open to 19,722.19. The S&P 500 opened higher by 107.04 points (4.78%) at 2,344.44. The Nasdaq Composite gained 335.47 points (4.89%) to 7,196.15 at the opening bell.

The S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes had closed about 3 percent lower on Monday as a rise in US infections and lockdown in several states overshadowed historic measures by the Federal Reserve to boost credit in the economy.

The market has seen rebounds like this before, only for them to wash out immediately. Since the market began selling off on February 20, the S&P 500 has had six days where it’s risen, and all but one of them were big gains of more than 4%. After every one of them, stocks fell again the next day.

Ultimately, investors say they need to see the number of new infections peak before markets can find a bottom.

The increasing spread is forcing companies to park airplanes, shut hotels and close restaurants to dine-in customers. Altogether, estimates suggest at least 10% of the U.S. economy is shutting down, according to Rob Sharpe, head of investments and group chief investment officer at T. Rowe Price.

Economists are topping each other’s dire forecasts for how much the economy will shrink this spring due to the closures of businesses, and a growing number say a recession seems inevitable.

‘This is going to go on for weeks. We’ll need a back up reserve staff,’ he said. 

DRUG TREATMENT TRIALS AND AN ANTI-BODY TEST TO FIND OUT WHO HAS HAD THE VIRUS AND RECOVERED FROM IT  

Cuomo has also introduced trials for the anti-malaria drug that President Trump has touted as a potential treatment for the virus. 

He also announced a plan for identifying people who had the virus without knowing it by testing their blood for virus anti-bodies. 

‘The tests will determine if a person has had the virus and recovered without knowing it. It would allow them to go back to work and restart the economy,’ Cuomo said. 

‘Once we get that test, you’re going to find hundreds of thousands of people who have resolved. Once they’ve resolved, let them go back to work. 

‘Let the recovered people go back to work.  It’s even better for the older, vulnerable people – and then ramp up the economy with those individuals. 

‘You’re restarting the economy. Those two can be consistent if done intelligently. 

‘Don’t make us choose between a smart health strategy and a smart economic strategy – we can do both and we must do both. 

‘It’s restarting the economy and protecting public health,’ he said. 

‘This is important for us to know because these are then health care workers who could go back to work and workers who could return back to the private sector,’ Cuomo said Tuesday.

It’s not yet clear when and where exactly the test will be deployed, but Mt Sinai previously said it would begin using the blood test in its clinics.

The new blood test will at least tell those workers when its safe to return to work and may indicate to others that they’ve already been infected without getting seriously ill and are now immune.

‘They may have been infected and resolved and never knew it, but if they had coronavirus and it resolved, now they have an immunity to the coronavirus,’ and most doctors believe it could be for a ‘significantly’ long time, Cuomo said.

Both he and Mt Sinai suggested the tests will first be administered to health professionals, but such testing could also help jump start the economy once it’s available more broadly.

Trump said on Monday that the country would be ‘reopen’ within a matter of days. 

He has resisted a national quarantine, saying some states are not as badly affected as others, and is working with business leaders to come up with the huge amounts of equipment needed.

Cuomo said that he was concerned about the vulnerable population who would not be able to self-resolve. 

‘Eighty percent are going to self-resolve. Twenty percent are going to need hospitals. It’s not about that. It’s about a very small group of people in this population who are the most vulnerable. They are older, they have compromised immune systems, they are HIV positive, or they have emphysema, or they have an underlying heart condition, or they have bad asthma, or they’re recovering from cancer. Those are the people who are going to be vulnerable to the mortality of this disease, and it is only 1 percent or 2 percent of the population. 

‘But then why all of this? Because it’s one percent or 2 percent of the population. It’s lives, it’s grandmothers and grandfathers and sisters and brothers.

‘And you start to see the cases on TV. It’s a 40-year-old woman who recovered from breast cancer but had a compromised immune system and four children at home. That’s what this is about. It’s about a vulnerable population. I called the executive order that I passed Matilda’s law – my mother,’ he said. 

Matilda’s Law mandates that anyone over the age of 70 must stay indoors at all times unless they are going to receive medical care. 

They can only accept visitors if the visitor stays 6ft away from them and is wearing a mask. 

‘It’s about my mother. It’s about my mother. It’s about my mother. It’s about your mother. It’s about your loved one. And we will do anything we can to make sure that they are protected,’ Cuomo said. 

Towards the end of the press conference, Cuomo became emotional as he talked about how much he loved the state. 

‘We’re going to get through it because we are New York and because we’ve dealt with a lot of things, and because we are smart. You have to be smart to make it in New York. And we are resourceful, and we are showing how resourceful we are. And because we are united, and when you are united, there is nothing you can’t do. And because we are New York tough. We are tough. You have to be tough. This place makes you tough, but it makes you tough in a good way.

‘We’re going to make it because I love New York, and I love New York because New York loves you. New York loves all of you. Black and white and brown and Asian and short and tall and gay and straight. New York loves everyone. 

‘That’s why I love New York. It always has, it always will. 

‘And at the end of the day, my friends, even if it is a long day, and this is a long day, love wins. Always. And it will win again through this virus,’ he said.

He also urged New Yorkers to give thanks to doctors and nurses if they see them.

‘Our health care workers, who are doing God’s work. They are doing God’s work. Can you imagine the nurses who leave their homes in the morning, who kiss their children goodbye, go to a hospital, put on gowns, deal with people who have the coronavirus? 

‘They’re thinking all day long, oh, my God, I hope I don’t get this. Oh my God, I hope I don’t get this and bring it home to my children. 

‘You want to talk about extraordinary individuals – extraordinary,’ he said. 

I WILL defy the doctors, says Trump who claims ‘our people want to return to work’ and assures that ‘seniors will be watched over’ despite medical experts warning his back to business plan could kill MILLIONS

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he can re-open the economy while protecting at-risk populations from the coronavirus despite warnings from medical experts that strict containment measures are still needed.

‘Our people want to return to work,’ the president wrote on Twitter.

‘They will practice Social Distancing and all else, and Seniors will be watched over protectively & lovingly. We can do two things together. THE CURE CANNOT BE WORSE (by far) THAN THE PROBLEM! Congress MUST ACT NOW. We will come back strong!,’ he argued.

His push on Tuesday comes as Congress closes in on a deal for a $2 trillion economic rescue packages for individuals and businesses hit hard by the coronavirus.

The stock market rose Tuesday morning in the hopes the legislation will soon be passed and checks will flow into the pocket books of Americans.

And Larry Kudlow, chief economy adviser at the White House, warned there will still be shut-ins and hot zones even if some ares become more open.

‘We’re not abandoning the health professionals’ advice, but there is a clamor to try to reopen the economy, and perhaps I’ll call it less of a shut in. And so that’s one piece that’s yet to be determined, but it’s one piece is being looked at. We still need the assistance because in the next week or two or three, you’re still gonna have a lot of hot zones, you still got a lot of shut ins. There’s no miracle here. We’re not just flipping a switch. 

‘The assistance is so vital,’ he told reporters at the White House Tuesday morning.

President Trump has been clear he’s worried about the economic affect coming from all the businesses being shuttered because of the pandemic. Numerous states have closed restaurants, gyms, bars, and clubs. The hospitality industry has been hit hard by the pandemic. States like California and New York have advised people to stay home as much as possible. And the stock market has tanked, erasing nearly all the gains it made since Trump took office.

Politicians from both sides of the aisle have warned President Trump against an early ending to social distancing.

‘There will be no normally functioning economy if our hospitals are overwhelmed and thousands of Americans of all ages, including our doctors and nurses, lay dying because we have failed to do what’s necessary to stop the virus,’ wrote Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney on Twitter. She went into voluntarily quarantine after possible exposure to the coronavirus.

And Hillary Clinton wrote letting people die was not worth rescuing the economy.

‘It’s incredible that this has to be said: Letting thousands of people needlessly suffer and die is wrong. It’s also not a recipe for rescuing the economy,’ she tweeted.

Additionally, the World Health Organization has warned the United States has the potential to become the new coronavirus epicenter following a ‘very large acceleration’ in infections. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk