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.
Aria Finger, CEO of DoSomething.org, is a Taylor Swift fan, and it has nothing to do with her music. Finger said the pop star's GOTV push is just what is needed to increase voter turnout among young people in November.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
With less than 10 days left until recreational marijuana is legal across Canada, Alyson Martin, co-founder of Cannabis Wire, explains how rollout will go. As for the future of legalization in the U.S., she says it's inevitable. "Young people might be the path to legalization," she said.
Utah is one of four states with a medical marijuana initiative on the ballot next month. But Republican State Senate President Wayne Niederhauser said so-called Prop 2 probably goes to far and a separate, bipartisan bill to legalize medical use with some restrictions, is a more measured approach.
UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has submitted her resignation to President Trump and will leave her post at the end of 2018.
The former South Carolina Governor has long been considered a presidential contender, but in a joint meeting with the president said she would not run in 2020.
Haley was a fierce protector of Trump's foreign policy doctrine at the UN since she was confirmed to the post soon after Trump took office.
The president said he'd name a replacement in two to three weeks.
The actor and comedian spoke to Cheddar about his new projects, which focus on race, mental health, and political issues in a wide-ranging interview.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know.
Greg Miller, author of "The Apprentice," told Cheddar that the main objective of his new book was to build a comprehensive look at President Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin as well as the findings of the special counsel probe.
With the midterm elections now less than a month away, Cheddar's J.D. Durkin went to Las Vegas to gauge what is fast becoming one of the most consequential races in the country. Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen is challenging GOP Sen. Dean Heller for his seat and, according to new polling, has taken a slim lead. For a deeply purple state that went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but still maintains significant support for Pres. Trump, the race is becoming a bellwether for the national state of play.
A landmark report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Monday warned that there could be irreversible damage caused by climate change in as little as 12 years. Andrew Freedman, science reporter at Axios, said the effects of this could be even hotter heat waves, sea-levels rising that could wipe out coastal cities, food shortages, and more.
