NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- New York state is reportedly preparing to use the Javits Center as an emergency COVID hospital again if cases overwhelm medical centers.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office told the New York Post that the state is preparing for a worst-case scenario and putting plans in place to reactivate the makeshift hospital in Manhattan.
Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi told the Post: "New York state for weeks has been undertaking preparations to have emergency hospital facilities to be ready for potential surge in cases, including sites such as the Javits where much of the infrastructure is still in place and could be mobilized quickly if the increase in hospitalizations is worse than expected."
"We urge New Yorkers to continue to be SMART so we can avoid a surge that overwhelms our hospital system and these facilities do not have to be activated," Azzopardi said.
The convention center was used during the COVID peak back in the spring, with some criticizing that it was underutilized as cases surged. About 1,000 patients were treated at the field hospital over the course of a month before it was closed in early May.
Northwell Health helped run the field hospital in the spring. Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling told the Post that he doesn't think the hospital will need to be reactivated but that officials are doing pre-planning.
"There are no plans to open Javits right now. But if we do need to, the pre-planning is done," he said. "Right now I think the likelihood of reopening is minimal. We want to be ready if something drastic occurs."
1010 WINS has reached out to the governor's office for comment.
Another 3,390 COVID cases of coronavirus were reported in New York City on Tuesday as the city's seven-day positivity rate climbed to 7.45%.
