Photo: Gov. Cuomo at today’s press briefing
April 3, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Nearly 500 Queens residents have now been killed by the coronavirus since the pandemic took over New York City and turned the World’s Borough into the epicenter.
Across the five boroughs, 1,584 people have died, as of 9:30 a.m. today. In Queens, 499 residents have died and 17,832 residents have contracted the virus, according to city data.
New York City’s total count of coronavirus positive residents is up to 57,159, Governor Andrew Cuomo said this morning. Statewide, the number of infected hit the six-digit figure today with 102,863 positive cases.
The state’s death toll, which saw its biggest jump yet today, will only continue to rise as the number of cases goes up.
A projected 16,000 New Yorkers will die throughout the Empire State, Cuomo said at his daily press briefing yesterday, citing an Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model.
Statewide, 562 people died between Thursday and Friday, bringing the total deaths to 2,935.
Cuomo warned that the number of deaths will continue to rise as more people are put on ventilators for extended periods. About 80 percent of coronavirus patients put on a ventilator do not recover, he said at Wednesday’s briefing.
“If you go on a ventilator, there’s roughly only a 20 percent chance that you will come off,” he said.
But even securing the life-saving ventilators in the first place will be difficult enough.
The state’s supply of ventilators will run out in six days at the current rate, Cuomo said yesterday.
There are currently 2,200 ventilators in the state stockpile — but each day, an average of 350 COVID-19 patients come into hospitals across the state in need of one.
“If a person comes in and needs a ventilator and you don’t have a ventilator, the person dies,” Cuomo said. “That’s the blunt equation here.”
Wednesday night, the state released 400 ventilators to New York City’s public hospital system and another 200 to Long Island and Westchester — both of which have seen a recent uptick in cases.
The federal government doesn’t have enough ventilators to meet the need in New York.
The state has instead been forced to plan B to supplement the need. Anesthesia machines and BiPAP machines will be converted into ventilators and existing ventilators will be split, so that two patients can use one machine.
“Yes, the burn rate of ventilators is troubling and six days of ventilators in the stock pile is troubling, but we have all these extraordinary measures that I believe, if push comes to shove, will put us in fairly good shape,” Cuomo said yesterday.
Today, he said he would sign an executive order allowing the state to take ventilators from hospitals where they aren’t being used and redistribute them to hospitals where there’s a greater need. The National Guard will oversee the distribution.
As of yesterday at 4:30 p.m., 10,590 coronavirus patients have been hospitalized across New York City, with 3,531 in Queens.
At Elmhurst Hospital — ground zero of the pandemic — staff members have increased the ICU capacity from 29 beds to 111 ICU beds in just 10 days. In most cases, ICU beds for coronavirus patients means beds with ventilators.
Elmhurst Hospital has been diverting patients to other hospitals throughout the city to prevent overwhelming its capacity.
The hospital is surrounded by Corona and Elmhurst, the two neighborhoods that have seen the most COVID-19 cases. As of March 31, 971 Corona residents have been infected with the virus and 831 Elmhurst residents have been infected.
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25 Comments
– Hashtag You don’t know what you’re talking about . The federal government protects us from foreign enemies. CORONA has overwhelmed governments around the world no local or state government could manage this pandemic alone as every country in the world has demonstrated. This is the very reason for the federal governments existence. This is the very reason why Jared Kushner went and altered the website pertaining to the National Stockpile. Change the rules in the middle of the game so gullible banner wavers like you could run around spewing lies.
TPTB knew about this in January but hindsight is 20-20. It is here, it is killing people, let those responsible suffer the consequences.
FEDERALISM. it was up to CUOMO AND DEBLASIO to respond first and the two stated that if you don’t go to the Lunar Year Parade it is because you are a racist. Or something.
-hashtag What you Fox, Alex Jones and Rush Limbaugh consider “America” is much different from reality and what the vast majority of Americans consider to be “America.” You post a lot of Russian propaganda for an American.
Kept borders open? The federal government under the Trump administration is responsible for international borders. Liberals?? You’re a weak minded uninformed obsessive troll.
Look at the hate from Mac, Jo and Dave! The usual American bashing fools. Their only response is blame Trump while their liberal friends kept the borders open.
@dumpdeblasio- DeBlasio followed the Republican position on “distancing” just ask Devin Nunes, Jerry Farwell Jr., Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, Dennis Pager and Donald J Trump. Are you posting fake rage? Again Please provide us with more links to opinion pieces by Republican criminals you call news articles and Links to info wars like you’ve been known to do, supporting your warped views.
@#dumpdblzio- Aren’t you going to provide us with links to more opinion pieces and right wing hate sites like you normally do and tell us this is your supporting documentation ? All of Trumps actions were too little too late. I hope you’re enjoying his reenactment of “The Apprentice” Where he was going to get manufacturers of ventilators to produce ventilators and have affected states compete for these ventilators. How come South Korea and Taiwan were able to get their pandemics under control before the US? The 3 countries share the same dubious first patient diagnosis date.
Check your facts – Aided and abetted by a world leader dancing with the flag and calling the virus a hoax as recently as the first week of March.
I have never called Trump racist for banning flights too late, I call him illiterate. You don’t know how “people like me” is or think.
The great Donny knew this stuff way before people like you and me, for sure. He does not live incommunicated in a bubble thinking for real that a menace is an hoax.
Ok, you are right in some part, negligence charges for Trump extended to governors and mayors.
And again, I repeat my self: genocide charges for the Chinesse president.
I don’t make a lot of money. I always kept a reserve fund of money for an emergency. When this crisis started before everyone got hysterical I prepared with supplies – not hoarding but enough to survive. I don’t need a stimulus plan. People need to plan for an emergency before it happens not when it happens.
China has caused so many deaths all over the world.
God bless all the hospital workers on the front lines. They are doing heroic work. They deserve proper equipment and supplies. We gotta do better.
Jo. The communist Chinese are practicing genocide against the Ughar popular and Tibet. Trump stopped the flights from China and was called a “racist” by people like you. And commie Mayor Bill DeBlasio “urged people to go to the Lunar Year celebrations” and thought the St. Patrick’s Day parade should go on as usual.
Deblasio has blood on his hands.
Blame Cuomo and DeBlasio. The subways and restaurants are still operating.How is this considered social distancing? Shut the city down for the rest of the month, should have been done already.
Hey Jo, blame the local politicians.States govern themselves.
Heartbreaking.
It’s like he has no experience governing at all! I hope the game show host starts doing a better job at what game show hosts do–manage global pandemics.
I saw on cbs that those that have recovered from this virus are the ones that are going to be sought after from employers for front line jobs. This may have a trickle down effect to other job positions and rather discriminatory if it happens. The country would have to expand unemployment benefits.
I wonder how quickly the media will go back to shutting down racists sounding comments and stereotypes about how certain ethnic and social class groups/neighborhoods live.
Hospitals workers in other countries plead for help inside the hospital through phones and social media.
And here in nyc workers are beginning to have walk outs to spend time talking to the media while patients are almost filled to capacity and dying. They can at least practice social distancing while they are outside protesting.
Is the Chinesse president going to be charged for genocide?
And Trump for negligence?
exactly this, if it doesn’t start world war 3. china has weakened the worlds nations exponentially. I also find it sad that most on the ventilators do not survive. that’s not a good option. where are the meds we were promised?
I think it would be nice and helpful if we all learned sign language.