Dr Craig Smith (pictured), Columbia University’s chief surgeon, warned that new projections estimate the number of coronavirus patients will continue to grow over the next 22 to 32 days
As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases soared above 12,000 in the state of New York, Columbia University’s chief of surgery warned that emergency rooms will become overwhelmed with infected patients within the next 22 to 32 days.
Because of dwindling supplies, hospitals have been rationing supplies and asking staff to reuse masks until they become soiled.
Dr Craig Smith, Columbia University’s chief surgeon, said hospitals in the New York Presbyterian system are burning through about 40,000 masks a day – about 10 times the normal amount.
Smith has been raising alarms about the rapid surge of patients and dwindling supplies in daily letters to colleagues that have been posted to the Columbia surgery department’s Twitter account.
In his most recent letter, Smith warned that new projections estimate the number of coronavirus patients will continue to grow over the next 22 to 32 days, overwhelming New York-Presbyterian system’s emergency rooms and intensive care units, even with measures taken to build capacity.
The projections show the system’s hospitals needing 700 to 934 ICU beds when the outbreak reaches its peak.
According to Smith, the system saw a 50 per cent increase in coronavirus patients, making for a total of 300 being treated and another 200 awaiting test results.
‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to apologize profusely in a few weeks for having overestimated the threat,’ Smith wrote.
‘That would mean we never exceeded capacity, and that mortalities and morbidities rarely seen in non-pandemic circumstances were avoided. The next month or two is a horror to imagine if we’re underestimating the threat,’ he added.
According to Smith, the system saw a 50 per cent increase in coronavirus patients, making for a total of 300 being treated and another 200 awaiting test results
His projections show the system’s hospitals needing 700 to 934 ICU beds when the outbreak reaches its peak. A Department of Health employee is seen training New York Army National Guard soldiers to register people on iPads at a drive through testing center in New York
At NYU Langone Health, another hospital operator, the ‘ERs are extremely busy’ and some patients are being treated in space retrofitted to expand capacity, spokesman Jim Mandler said Saturday.
New York Gov Andrew Cuomo said the state is scouring the globe for medical supplies and scouting temporary hospital locations as the coronavirus crisis grows.
Officials have identified 2 million masks that can be sent to hot spots, and apparel companies are pivoting to make masks, Cuomo said.
A million masks were being sent Saturday to New York City hospitals and 500,000 to Long Island.
Cuomo said the goal is to quickly boost the state’s hospital capacity from around 50,000 beds to 75,000 beds. More than 1,600 people have been hospitalized so far.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency had declared a major disaster in the state, freeing up access to billions of dollars in relief funding.
There are more than 25,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US with 308 deaths
As of late Saturday night, the disease has killed at least 76 people in New York state, according to a tracking effort at Johns Hopkins University. At least 60 of those deaths were in New York City.
Cuomo said the state is looking to see if the Jacob K Javits Convention Center in Manhattan could be suitable for 1,000 requested field hospital beds that would supplied by FEMA in a ‘tent configuration’ with equipment and staff.
Also on Saturday, the state was scouting four locations for temporary hospitals that would be built by the Army Corps of Engineers, Cuomo said.
In addition to the Javits Center, other sites include Stony Brook University and SUNY Old Westbury on Long Island and the Westchester County Center north of the city.
‘Everything that can be done is being done,’ Cuomo said
There are more than 25,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US with 308 deaths.
Globally, there are more than 311,000 cases and more than 13,400 deaths.