NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that he intends to have an overflow facility with at least 1,000 beds in each New York City borough and surrounding counties in the fight against coronavirus, as the rate of cases in the state rises above 37,000.
"Almost any scenario that is realistic will overwhelm the capacity of the current healthcare system," Cuomo said in a press conference. He said they were scouting sites for emergency hospitals downstate, including on Long Island and in Westchester and Rockland counties.
There are currently 37,258 positive cases of COVID-19 in the New York State, with 21,393 in New York City.
To date, 385 people have died from the virus in New York, with 100 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The governor said that all New York hospitals have enough personal protective equipment for the immediate future, adding that the New York City Health and Hospital system has confirmed that.
In response to reports that nurses are wearing plastic bags, he said that distribution issues may have been blame.
Cuomo said that the desperate need for ventilators exists in part because, while a typical patient who requires a ventilator will be on it for three to four days, a COVID-19 patient are more likely to be on one for 11 to 21 days.
To meet the need, hospitals continue to split ventilators between two people, and are beginning to convert anesthesia machines for use as ventilators.
The governor reiterated that the Senate stimulus bill did not do enough to help local and state governments. He said that New York State will receive about $5 billion that can only be used to cover COVID-19 expenses, while the state will lose between $10 and $15 billion, much of it from lost tax revenues.
"This was the time to put politics aside and partisanship aside," he said, expressing his disappointment in the federal legislature. "Stop making excuses and just do your job."