New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the state will be thousands of hospital beds short when the number of people infected with COVID-19 reaches its peak. Cuomo’s asking President Trump to call in the Army Corp of Engineers to help.
Cuomo says the state has 3,000 intensive care beds. 80% of them are already full.
“You need thousands. You’re going to be thousands short.”
He says the state has the real estate, SUNY dorms for example, and that he can find the workers by tapping medical schools. But the state is limited by contracting and design requirements. He says the only government organization that can build hospitals in a matter of weeks is the Army Corp of Engineers.
Another problem though is the lack of ventilators. He says the state only has 3,000 and will need, again, thousands more. He says it’s impossible to find these even if he had the money to buy them.
