New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Michael Brochstein / Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
(Updated: 1:56 p.m. EST, March 30, 2020)
Topline: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a Monday press conference that ventilators now cost $50,000, a 150% increase in price as the state’s cases surge to over 66,000 as his administration continues efforts to prepare for even higher numbers of patients.
- Cuomo said that ventilators now cost over $50,000, as opposed to the $20,000 when the state first attempted to purchase them, because states are competing with each other to obtain enough of the devices in anticipation of a surge of patients.
- The rate of intubation of New York patients—meaning those patients being placed on ventilators—was up on Monday, but Cuomo said that there is no pattern to the data.
- Cuomo said the rate of doubling of cases is now at six days, as compared to doubling every two to five days, which means is a sign that the number is slowing.
- A 2500-bed field hospital staged in the Javits Center conference complex will be operational today, Cuomo also said.
- The governor also responded to President Trump’s accusation that masks and other medical equipment are being stolen from hospitals: “I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what he’s trying to say. If he wants to make an accusation, let him make an accusation.”
- Cuomo also had an answer to Trump’s Monday comment about wanting to run against him over Joe Biden for president: “I am not engaging the president in politics, my only goal is to engage the president in partnership,” adding, “I have never been running for president, and I’m not running for president now.”
Big number: 66,000. That’s how many cases New York state has. Over 1,200 New York residents have died. In comparison, New Jersey has the second-highest number of cases, at over 13,000.
Crucial quote: “Only one county does not have a COVID case. Anyone who says this is New York City only is in a state of denial,” Cuomo said, adding, “No American is immune to this virus.”
Key background: Cuomo has come to the forefront of state governors responding to coronavirus, receiving a flurry of praise from the media and social media users alike. His daily press briefings, accompanied by frank PowerPoint presentations, have become “essential TV” during the crisis, according to Vulture. Cuomo has also taken on Trump in several heated moments over the past weeks, by criticizing the federal government for forcing states to compete over ventilators: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I don’t operate based on opinions. I operate on facts, data and science—and the numbers say we need 30,000,” Cuomo said Sunday.
