Andrew Cuomo: Ventilators Will Be Gone in 6 Days

State running out of machines as number of patients soars
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 2, 2020 2:52 PM CDT
Gov. Cuomo: We Have Only 6-Day Supply of Ventilators
This video frame grab provided by Office of the Governor shows New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, as he speaks with his brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, by video during the governor's news conference in Albany Thursday. Chris Cuomo has tested positive for COVID-19.   (Office of the Governor via AP)

New York is fast approaching a dangerous crunch time: Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday the state's supply of ventilators is on track to run out in six days, reports the New York Times. “If a person comes in and needs a ventilator and you don’t have a ventilator, the person dies,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing. “That’s the blunt equation here. And right now we have a burn rate that would suggest we have about six days in the stockpile.” The state has 2,200 of the machines left, but about 350 new patients need one every day. Cuomo said the federal government would help if it could, but it probably is not "in a position to provide ventilators to the extent the nation may need them." Cuomo said the state was working to buy some on the open market and would start trying to convert other types of respiratory machines to ventilators.

State officials also might transfer ventilators from hospitals elsewhere in the state to New York City. “We have all these extraordinary measures that I believe if push comes to shove will put us in fairly good shape," he said. Cuomo also said the number of New York fatalities rose by more than 400 in 24 hours to 2,373, per the AP. The number of confirmed cases in the state now exceeds 92,000. On a lighter note, the governor's younger brother, Chris, called in, and the pair resumed what BuzzFeed calls their "comedy act." Chris, who has tested positive, said his brother appeared to him in a hallucination in a "very interesting ballet outfit." The governor responded that "obviously the fever has affected your mental capacity." (Earlier, Chris Cuomo spoke of his scary-sounding symptoms.)

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