Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York on Monday urged U.S. health workers to travel to New York to help the state fight the worst outbreak of coronavirus in the nation.
“Help New York. We are the ones who are being hit now,” said Cuomo at a press conference at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City that the Army Corps of Engineers converted to a makeshift hospital last week. The Javits Center will be used for non-COVID-19 patients to share beds and medical care in other hospitals, he said.
Cuomo said the New York outbreak is not an anomaly and will affect every part of the United States.
“We are the ones who are being hit now. This is today, but tomorrow it will go somewhere else, whether it is Detroit, whether it is New Orleans. It will work across the country,” ; said the governor.
“Anyone who says this situation is a ‘single situation in New York City’ is in a state of denial. You see how this virus moves across the state, you see how this virus moves across the country “There is no American who is immune to this virus. I don’t care if you live in Kansas. I don’t care if you live in Texas,” said Cuomo.
By Sunday evening, local health authorities in New York City alone confirmed more than 33,400 confirmed COVID-19 cases – half of the state’s 66,487 cases and nearly a quarter of all cases in the United States.
He said the state was dealing with the pandemic at a “level, intensity, and density” that had not been seen elsewhere, and the knowledge gained in New York could be applied elsewhere in the nation.
“In many ways, New York is just a canary in the coal mine. What you see here you will experience across the country.”
New York is still trying to provide the necessary medical care. On Monday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had confirmed that it would send refrigerated trucks to New York City to serve as a temporary mortuary for coronavirus victims. According to Cuomo, at least 1,218 people have died from COVID-19 across the state.
The agency’s regional administrator, Thomas Von Essen, said the military had provided 42 people to the Manhattan Medical Examiner’s Office, where there was a “desperate need” for help in the Queens district.
Earlier in the day, Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio welcomed the arrival of a Navy hospital ship that will relieve New York hospitals dealing with a rapidly growing number of coronavirus patients.
USNS Comfort will provide New York with around 1,000 hospital beds and 1,200 employees, Cuomo said on Twitter. It will be used to treat patients without COVID-19 to open other hospital rooms for coronavirus patients, the governor said earlier.