New York needs 30,000 ventilators to treat coronavirus patients

New York state needs about 30,000 more ventilators to address the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a daily briefing Tuesday. 

The novel coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected at least 390,000 and killed at least 17,000 worldwide. Cuomo reported 25,665 cases in New York state as of Tuesday. 

Of the 3,000 people in the state who are hospitalized from the virus, 23% need ventilators, the governor said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would send 400 ventilators to New York state.

“That’s the problem,” Cuomo said. “What are we going to do with 400 ventilators when we need 30,000?” 

Cuomo delivered the briefing at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City, the site of the state’s first emergency hospital. The emergency hospitals were constructed to decrease backlog in regular hospitals, Cuomo said. 

The governor has requested that the federal government invoke the Defense Production Act to require corporations to produce medical supplies, including ventilators, for state governments. 

No company will manufacture a ventilator, which would cost about $25,000, unless people are buying them, Cuomo said. 

About 20% of individuals who test positive for COVID-19 will require hospitalization, Cuomo said. Although this percentage is small, these individuals, who are older or have underlying health conditions, require life-saving medical supplies. 

“It is about the vulnerable, it is not about 95% of us,” he said.

Cuomo also said he wants to develop a “smarter,” more refined public health strategy to allow younger individuals and those who’ve recovered from the virus to return to work. Economic start-up strategies can still comply with health precautions, he said. 

New York was the first state to see a drastic increase in cases, but the same will happen to cities across the country in a matter of weeks, Cuomo said. 

“We are just a test case. That’s how the nation should look at it,” Cuomo said. “We are your future.”