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As the number of coronavirus-related deaths approaches 300 in New York City — the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. — the city’s hospitals only have enough personal protective equipment, or PPE, to supply their doctors and nurses for the short term, but not beyond, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during his daily news conference Thursday morning.
The declaration comes after a report Wednesday showing three hospital workers at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai West wearing garbage bags as a substitute for protective gear.
“There’s no doubt that in the past few days, maybe the distribution is a little start and stop, but we have enough PPE and the New York City officials say they have enough PPE for the New York City hospitals,” Cuomo said in response to a question about the report.
The governor said there is enough PPE in stock for the immediate need, but “not past the immediate need, and we keep shopping.” Hospitals, meanwhile, are continuing to ration them through reuse.
Personal protective equipment refers to the protective items, including face masks, gloves, gowns and face shields, worn by medical professionals. In the fight against COVID-19, such measures are crucial given the highly contagious nature of the virus.
Cuomo said the state is also working on securing additional ventilators. COVID-19 manifests as a respiratory illness for a large number of people, making the currently-limited machines crucial for care.
New York state, which had 4,000 existing ventilators in the hospital system, will need 30,000 in total, Cuomo said Wednesday. To help meet the need, the state has purchased an additional 7,000 and the federal government has sent 4,000, bringing the total to 15,000.
To account for the additional machines needed, Cuomo said Thursday that the state is looking to buy more, is converting anesthesia machines and has approved technology to split ventilators to allow them to serve two patients.
Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, said during the news conference that she had spoken to Mount Sinai Thursday morning in reaction to the news story, and was assured that the hospital has all the PPE it currently needs.
“As these individual stories are popping up they’re reacting to them in real time, but they continue to assure us that they have what they need at the moment and we’ve assured them that if they don’t, we’ll get them what they need immediately,” DeRosa said.
As of Thursday morning, New York City had 21,873 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 281 people had died as a result of the coronovirus, according to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
The city currently accounts for more than 31% of the U.S.’s confirmed cases, a number that stands at 68,440, according to the CDC.
In New York state there have been 37,258 confirmed cases as of Thursday afternoon.
The rapid spread of the virus across the five boroughs is due in part to the density of the population both across the city and within individual households and apartment buildings.
The inundation of patients and the lack of long-term supplies has hospitals looking for ways to ration their equipment.
“We received new supplies of PPE that will hold us for at least the next several weeks,” NYU Langone medical center said in a statement. “However, we continue to ration them through reuse. We also are experimenting with re-sterilization of PPE, particularly masks, following recommended guidelines.”
Supplies are being distributed to hospitals on an as-needed basis, according to the governor, and ongoing efforts are in place to secure more.
“We’re doing everything we can,” Cuomo said. “We’re buying from China. I have people calling and volunteering private planes to go to China and pick up materials. It’s really been extraordinary.”
