New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday provided his daily coronavirus update from the Javits Convention Center, which opened today as an emergency field hospital.
The governor said both the Javits Center and the USNS Comfort hospital ship, which docked in the city this morning, will serve patients dealing with non-coronavirus medical needs. That should leave New York City hospitals to serve as the frontline of the coronavirus outbreak.
While expressing gratitude for federal support the state has received, Cuomo stressed that the city is not an "anomaly" but rather a "canary in the coal mine" for what the rest of the state and country will soon experience.
"What you see us going through here, you will see happening all across this country," he said.
"Anyone who says this situation is a New York City-only situation is in a state of denial."
All but one county in the state of New York has a confirmed COVID-19 case, he added.
Collaboration has been complicated, however, by the fact that states are competing for the same stock of limited supplies.
"We're competing amongst ourselves. We're driving the prices up. When we started buying ventilators, they were under $20,000. The ventilators are now over $50,000 if you can find them," Cuomo said.
The governor echoed a message from Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier today emphasizing that New York would provide guidance and direct assistance to other areas once they, too, become hot zones.
The state's latest death toll from the virus now stands at 1,218, a jump of about 300 from Sunday. Cuomo said the jump correlates with an increasing number of patients who have died after prolonged periods of ventilators use, suggesting that patients with more serious cases are beginning to succumb to the disease.
In a bit of positive news, Cuomo reported that cases are now doubling at a slower rate than that had been, down from doubling every two days to every six days.
"While the overall number of cases is going up, the rate of doubling is actually down," Cuomo said.
President Donald Trump says he's ordered the Navy to “shoot down and destroy” any Iranian gunboats found to be harassing U.S. ships. Trump made the announcement on Twitter but provided no details.
Main Street America, a network of 1,600 commercial districts covering 300,000 small businesses, has conducted a survey offering some sobering statistics on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump announced what he described as a “temporary suspension of immigration into the United States” on Tuesday. But he said the executive order he plans to sign as soon as Wednesday would apply only to those seeking permanent residency and not temporary workers.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is speaking out against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's plan to reopen businesses such as gyms, nail salons, barbershops, and bowling alleys this Friday, April 24.
The Senate has approved a $483 billion coronavirus aid package after Congress and the White House reached a deal. The measure, passed Tuesday by the Senate, would replenish a small-business rescue program, provide hospitals with $75 billion more and implement a nationwide virus testing program to facilitate reopening the economy.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he had a “functional and effective” Oval Office meeting on Tuesday with President Donald Trump in which he pressed for more federal help as states try to increase testing for the coronavirus.
Oil prices are continuing to collapse, and U.S. stocks dropped to their worst loss in weeks as worries sweep markets about the economic damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Ohio 85th District) joined hundreds of protesters at the Ohio state capitol over the weekend, making him one of the few lawmakers to give his tacit support for the small but vocal group of people who are arguing against stay-at-home orders.
Tom Prendergast, the former chairman of the MTA, spoke to Cheddar to offer advice and possible solutions to the paradox of how to run the country's largest public transit network at levels that would help NYC "reopen," while also keeping the millions of daily riders safe.
JetBlue Chairman Joel Peterson said he hoped to avoid furloughs and pay cuts that have been announced by other airlines such as United that would take place after a federally imposed deadline as a stipulation of the airline bailouts.
