Coronavirus Update: NYC Working To Increase Testing, Add Hospital Beds
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – As coronavirus cases continue to surge in New York City, leaders fear hospitals may run out of beds.
As CBS2’s Reena Roy reports, officials are working on creative solutions to make more space.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says starting today, the city will be capable of testing 5,000 people daily, with the most critically ill given first priority. He’s also looking to convert hotels into makeshift medical facilities and use large event spaces to store health care supplies.
Early Thursday morning, there were 1,871 cases in the city, and the death toll had risen to 11.
As lawmakers race to flatten the curve, they’re also desperately trying to increase medical supplies and hospital capacity.
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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump agreed to deploy a Navy hospital ship to New York City’s harbor to ease some of the strain.
“It has about 1,000 rooms on it. It has operating rooms,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “The president is going to dispatch the Comfort to us.”
De Blasio previously revealed he was considering a shelter-in-place order, but later backtracked those comments in an interview with CNN.
“It’s very clear rules about staying home with only minimal activity, get rid of all non-essential work,” he explained. “I talked to the governor a couple hours ago… I do think we share urgency and we’re working together on a common approach.”
The mayor also addressed recent concerns for the city’s jail population on WCBS Newsradio after a Rikers Island correction officer tested positive for COVID-19.
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“In the next 48 hours, we will identify any inmates who we think need to be brought out – either because of their own health conditions, if they have any preexisting conditions etc., or because the charges were minor and we think it’s appropriate to bring them out in this context,” he said.
The city is also making sure every child has access to breakfast and lunch during these unprecedented times.
Grab-and-go meals are available at the main entrances of public schools citywide, and parents don’t have to grab the meals from the school their child attends.
The City Council said more than 133,000 meals were served Wednesday.
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March 19, 2020 at 03:45PM
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