New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media at the Javits Convention Center which is being turned into a hospital to help fight coronavirus cases on March 24, 2020 in New York City. New York City has about a third of the nation’s confirmed coronavirus cases, making it the center of the outbreak in the United States. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said new projections from health officials suggest instead of flattening, "the curve is increasing" and lambasted the federal government for its lack of action on distributing ventilators and for refraining from using the Defense Production Act.
The governor said the apex of the disease is approaching faster than anticipated and could come as soon as 14-21 days from now. He raised the number of hospital beds needed in the state to 140,000 beds and 40,000 ICU beds. New York currently has 3,000 ICU beds and 53,000 hospital beds. A few days ago, he said the state had projected it would need 110,000 beds.
Cuomo had previously included more hopeful notes of encouragement in his press conferences but on Tuesday delivered concerning news. "The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought," he said.
Nearly half of the nationwide coronavirus cases are in New York state. Overnight, the case count rose by 5,000, bringing the total to more than 25,000 statewide.
"No one is testing more than we are testing," Cuomo said. "In many ways, we have exhausted every option available to us."
The governor noted that 23 percent of hospitalizations so far have needed ventilators and that 13 percent of positive diagnoses have required hospitalization as of Tuesday.
"We haven't flattened the curve, and the curve is actually increasing," Cuomo said from the Javits Center in Manhattan, which is being turned into a 1,000-bed emergency hospital by the Army Corps of Engineers.
On Monday, Dr. Deborah Birx, who is in charge of the White House response, said the attack rate in New York and New Jersey is five times higher than for the rest of the United States. The attack rate is the percentage of a population that catches the disease.
Cuomo was pointed in his criticism of the federal government for so far sending only a small fraction of needed ventilators to New York. "You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators?" the governor demanded of the White House. "What are we going to do with 400 ventilators when we need 30,000 ventilators? You're missing the magnitude of the problem, and the problem is defined by the magnitude."
Cuomo said the state has so far procured 7,000 ventilators but needs 30,000 and, without more options for ventilators available, will start attempting the unusual plan to split them between people.
"If we don't have ventilators in 14 days, it does us no good," Cuomo assessed, again lamenting what he expressed was the lack of aid. "Not to exercise [the Defense Production Act] is inexplicable to me."
President Trump, during a Coronavirus Task Force town hall on Fox News Tuesday, struck back at the New York governor saying "I watch him on this show complaining."
"I'm not blaming him, but he shouldn't be talking about us," Trump said, referring to a claim that Gov. Cuomo neglected to purchase additional ventilators for the state in 2015. "He should be buying his own ventilators."
Still, citing New York's current 25,665 cases of the novel coronavirus, the governor called on Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to release 20,000 ventilators in the federal stockpile.
"The problem is the volume," he said. He asked the federal government to deploy ventilators around the country as needed as different states approach their own curve rates of infection while noting that New York has the greater need at the moment.
After passing its critical period, he said that the state would then move the ventilators to the next region addressing a crisis.
"I will take personal responsibility for transporting the 20,000 ventilators anywhere in this country that they want once we are past our apex," he said. "But don't leave them sitting in a stockpile."
Going into election day on Tuesday, many of us had an inkling it might not be a great day for Democrats. History tells us the president's party tends to lose congressional seats, governorships and state legislature seats in off-year and midterm elections. Tuesday turned out to be a big wake-up call for democrats. Not only did Terry McAuliffe lose in the Virginia governor's race, Gov. Phil Murphy won re-election by an incredibly slim margin. Both races saw continued Democratic losses in rural areas and a shift of suburban voters back to the GOP. Liz Landers, chief political correspondent at Vice News, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
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On Wednesday, the court heard arguments in the biggest Second Amendment case in more than a decade. The dispute is over a New York gun law that requires people seeking a license to carry a handgun in public to show a "proper cause." The challengers in this case claim the law inhibits their constitutional Second Amendment rights.
Amy Howe, co-founder of SCOTUSBlog, joined Cheddar Politics to break the cases down.
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Quill Robinson, VP of government affairs at the American Conservation Coalition, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss.
The mayor of Portland, Oregon, Ted Wheeler joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss his plans to get an increase in the city's police budget for more personnel, changes to public safety response, and more body cameras. The Democratic mayor addressed the growth in violent crimes amid the pandemic, but noted the need for officers who take their roles seriously. We want officers who understand that policing is an important responsibility, it's a high calling," he said. "We also want a police bureau that is accountable and responsible to the public it serves."
More American tech companies continue to pull their businesses out of China as the Communist Party cracks down on firms — both foreign and domestic. Yahoo and Fortnite have become the latest companies to withdraw from the country, and the withdrawals come just days after Microsoft announced it would take LinkedIn offline. Shehzad Qazi, managing director at China Beige Book International, joined Cheddar to provide some insight into how the crackdowns in China would also impact the tech companies at home in the United States.
A new report out by the Center for Countering Digital Hate shows how just ten publishers are responsible for the bulk of climate change misinformation on social media--and companies like Facebook and Google are making money off them. Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, joined Cheddar to discuss.
'The Good Liars' are Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, a comedy duo that's been shaking up the political world for years. They're out with a new mockumentary, 'The Supporters,' following the 2020 election. Jason Selvig & Davram Stiefler, Stunt Comedians and creators of 'The Good Liars' joined Cheddar News to discuss.
