More hospitals sought as virus toll mounts in New York.
State has national high 44,000 confirmed cases
New York — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking 4,000 more temporary hospitals beds across New York City and ordered schools closed statewide for two more weeks. President Donald Trump and elected leaders in New York are clashing again over the depth of the state’s coronavirus crisis. Meanwhile, the outbreak is taking its toll on the state’s civil servants.
Here are the latest coronavirus developments in New York:
Bracing for worse
Cuomo sought to add another 4,000 temporary hospitals beds across New York City and ordered schools closed statewide for two more weeks on Friday, warning of hard days ahead in the coronavirus outbreak.
“This is going to be weeks and weeks and weeks,” Cuomo told National Guard members working at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. “This is going to be a long day, and it’s going to be a hard day, and it’s going to be an ugly day, and it’s going to be a sad day.”
A new temporary hospital at the Javits Center is part of the state’s plan to quickly bring hospital capacity up from 53,000 beds to 140,000 beds. More temporary hospitals are planned in the suburbs and a Navy hospital ship is due to arrive Monday in New York City, a global hot spot of the outbreak.
There are already more than 6,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in New York, with almost 1,600 in intensive care. The state has logged a nation-high of 519 deaths, and has more than 44,000 confirmed cases.
Fearful of still falling short of hospital beds if the outbreak peaks sharply in April, Cuomo is seeking authorization from the Trump administration to add 4,000 beds spread among the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The hospitals would be constructed at a horse track complex, a city college, an expo center and a cruise ship terminal.
“Were looking far and wide, very creative, aggressive and finding all the space that we can possibly find,” Cuomo said.
The governor also ordered schools in New York state to remain closed for another two weeks until April 15. Cuomo two weeks ago had ordered schools closed through April 1 as part of the state’s effort to slow the spread of the outbreak.
New York City schools are closed through April 20, though officials say the city closure could last the rest of the school year.
“I don’t do this joyfully, but I think that when you look at where we are, when you look at the number of cases still increasing, it only makes sense to keep the schools closed,” said Cuomo, who added he would reassess closures closer to April 15.
New York’s National Guard has helped provide logistical support at the Javits Center while also helping with food packaging and distribution and support for local law enforcement at New York City transportation hubs.
“You are living a moment in history. This is going to be one the moments they write about and talk about for generations,” he told National Guard members. “So I say, my friends, that we go out there today and we kick coronavirus’ ass.”
Trump doubts depth of crisis
New York City’s Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio, tangled with Trump again Friday after the Republican president expressed doubts about the depth of the crisis in the city’s hospital system and its urgent need for more breathing machines.
“When the president says the state of New York doesn’t need 30,000 ventilators, with all due respect to him, he’s not looking at the facts of this astronomical growth of this crisis,” de Blasio said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Trump on Thursday told Fox’s Sean Hannity, “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You go into major hospitals sometimes, and they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying, ‘Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’”
The federal government has been sending ventilators to New York and more help is on the way, including a Navy hospital ship and temporary hospitals from the military and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“So we’ve gotten something. I’m thankful for that,” the
Democratic mayor said. “But it has to keep coming.”
Public servants felled by virus
The coronavirus outbreak is taking its toll on New York City’s civil servants.
Two people who helped keep New York moving during the crisis, bus operator Oliver Cyrus, 61, and train conductor Peter Petrassi, 49, were killed by the virus Thursday, according to their union. Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano called transit workers “true heroes” for continuing to work during the pandemic and he demanded the Metropolitan Transportation Authority provide transportation workers with protective masks.
“Dedication and duty does not mean using transit workers as cannon fodder,” Utano said.
Fifty-year-old letter carrier Rakkhon Kim died Wednesday from complications related to COVID-19, according to the National Association of Letter Carriers. Kim had delivered mail for 23 years. He worked in the Bronx and lived in Northvale, N.J., according to the union.
The New York Police Department announced its first COVID-19 death on Thursday. Dennis Dickson, a department janitor, died from complications of the disease, police Commissioner Dermot Shea said. Dickson worked for the department since 2006 and spent 17 straight days cleaning up police headquarters after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Associated Press writer Marina Villeneuve contributed from Albany, N.Y.