Cuomo press conference notes:
- With the coronavirus having claimed more than 3,560 lives in New York, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo warned Saturday the state was still days away from the peak of its outbreak “Nobody can tell you the number at the top of the mountain,” Mr. Cuomo said, but estimated that it would be “in the seven-day range.” He said the state was not yet prepared for that point.“It feels like an entire lifetime,” he said. “I think we all feel the same, these stresses, this country, this state — like nothing I’ve experienced in my lifetime.”
- Confirmed cases 113,704, up from 102,863. In New York City, 63,306, up from 57,169.
- Hospitalized in New York State: 15,905, up from 14,810.
- In intensive care: 4,126, up from 3,731.
- Cuomo offered signs that many New Yorkers are overcoming the virus: Two-thirds of the people who had been hospitalized after reporting coronavirus-related symptoms have been discharged, Governor Cuomo said.
- Lon Island: Mr. Cuomo called it a “fire spreading.” Because of the increase in cases on Long Island, New York City’s share of the statewide cases dropped to 65 percent, from 75 percent. Governor Cuomo did not know whether it had to do with city residents fleeing there, the Hamptons have seen an influx
- Cases in Long Island’s Nassau County are at 13,346 (up 1,322 from yesterday), the second-highest in the state. Suffolk County cases are at 11,370 (up 1,216 from yesterday)
- New Jersey, which has more than 29,000 cases and has reported more than 640 deaths, has a “serious problem,” Mr. Cuomo said.
- Cuomo says that the Chinese government will facilitate a donation of 1,000 ventilators to arrive into JFK airport today, saying: “This is a big deal and it’s going to make a significant difference for us.”
- New Jersey, which has more than 29,000 cases and has reported more than 640 deaths, has a “serious problem,” Mr. Cuomo said.
- The state of Oregon is sending 140 ventilators to NY, Cuomo says, calling it “astonishing” and “unexpected.”
- The federal government will be focusing its resources on the conversion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center into a coronavirus treatment facility, providing staffing and equipment. Mr. Cuomo said he spoke to the White House about this on Saturday.
- Mr. Cuomo said New York was currently counting on 85,000 health care volunteers — about 22,000 of them coming from out of state — to assist with the growing number of patients, he said. He also signed an executive order Saturday to allow medical students who have not yet graduated to practice medicine in an effort to provide reinforcements. “We need doctors, we need nurses,” he said. “So we are going to expedite that.”Mr. Cuomo said New York was currently counting on 85,000 health care volunteers — about 22,000 of them coming from out of state — to assist with the growing number of patients, he said. He also signed an executive order Saturday to allow medical students who have not yet graduated to practice medicine in an effort to provide reinforcements. “We need doctors, we need nurses,” he said. “So we are going to expedite that
QUOTE: “I want this all to be over,” the governor says. “It’s only gone on for 30 days since our first case. It feels like an entire lifetime. I think we all feel the same. This stresses this country, this state in a way nothing else has frankly in my lifetime. It stresses us on every love. The economy is stressed, the social fabric is stressed, social systems are stressed, transportation is stressed. It’s right across the board. But the most difficult level is the human level. It is for me, anyway. And it’s every day and it’s everywhere.”
