New York Cases Climb By ‘Astronomical’ Amount, Accounting For About 60% Of U.S. Infections
Vice President Mike Pence warns that anyone who had been to New York and had since left should self-isolate for two weeks. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is working to get enough hospital beds and medical equipment to deal with the surge, but he struck an urgent tone Tuesday as cases continue to spike. He also forecasts that New York City is what the rest of America will be dealing with soon, though public health experts say that may not be the case because the city's unique circumstances--like high density--exacerbate the outbreak.
The New York Times:
Coronavirus In N.Y.: ‘Astronomical’ Surge Leads To Quarantine Warning
White House officials expressed growing alarm on Tuesday about the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, advising people who have passed through or left the city to place themselves in a 14-day quarantine. Officials warned that the outbreak could reach its peak in New York City much sooner than expected and said they had begun treating the region as a coronavirus hot zone, akin to areas of China and Europe overwhelmed by the virus. About 60 percent of the new cases in the country were in the New York City metropolitan area, and the infection rate was eight to 10 times greater than other parts of the country, officials said at a briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force. (Feuer and Rosenthal, 3/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Officials Say Anyone Leaving New York Area Should Self-Isolate For 14 Days
With more than 25,000 cases, New York has emerged as the epicenter of the crisis nationwide with the highest and fastest rate of infection, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. Infections are doubling every three days, the governor said, and the state expects its peak in these cases in two weeks, earlier than officials had anticipated. New York City hospitals are already straining to keep up with a surge of patients. Officials have sought to increase hospital capacity, including turning Manhattan’s Javits Center into a makeshift hospital, and find additional staff, like retired doctors. “I will turn this state upside down to get this number of beds that we need,” he said, adding that the state’s 53,000 beds fell drastically short of the estimated 140,000 beds needed. (Calfas, Fan and Ballhaus, 3/25)
NBC News:
As New York Faces Coronavirus 'Bullet Train,' Experts Warn Of Challenges Ahead
With New York in a race against the "bullet train" of the coronavirus sweeping across it, public health experts warned of the challenges ahead to prevent the state from becoming the next Italy. Gov. Andrew Cuomo painted a dire forecast for the outbreak Tuesday morning, saying that the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, was accelerating and that the state was in "desperate" need of ventilators and more hospital beds with the projected apex just 14 to 21 days away. (Silva, 3/24)
The Hill:
Cuomo Says NY Needs 30,000 Ventilators, Pleads With Feds For Help
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) begged the Trump administration on Tuesday for more ventilators, warning that the peak of the coronavirus could hit the state in 14 days. Cuomo said the state needs at least 30,000 of the breathing machines to care for the influx of coronavirus patients that is expected to hit New York in two weeks. So far, the state has procured 7,000, but has only received 400 from the federal government. “There is no other way for us to get these ventilators,” Cuomo said at a press conference Tuesday. (Hellmann, 3/24)
Politico:
‘We Are Your Future’: Will All Of America Become Like New York?
Not all public health experts share Cuomo’s certitude on the point of whether other parts of the country will soon experience outbreaks comparable to New York City’s. "Nobody knows the specific answer to that," said Joseph Vinetz, an infectious diseases specialist at the Yale School of Medicine. Indeed, POLITICO interviews with five leading public-health specialists indicated that while Cuomo’s point is well taken – there likely will be other places where the level of contagion will equal New York’s – there are also reasons to be hopeful that the transmission of the virus will be slower, and less widespread, in many parts of the country. Among the factors that make New York more vulnerable are its extensive public transportation system and its sheer size. (Schreckinger and Eisenberg, 3/25)
The Associated Press:
'Cacophony Of Coughing': Inside NYC's Virus-Besieged ERs
A “cacophony of coughing” in packed emergency rooms. Beds squeezed in wherever there is space. Overworked, sleep-deprived doctors and nurses rationed to one face mask a day and wracked by worry about a dwindling number of available ventilators. Such is the reality inside New York City’s hospitals, which have become the war-zone-like epicenter of the nation’s coronavirus crisis. (Sisak, Mustian and Peltz, 3/25)
The New York Times:
How Andrew Cuomo, New York Governor, Became The Politician Of The Moment
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo awoke before dawn on Tuesday, emerging after a few hours’ sleep to board a helicopter to New York City for the coronavirus briefing that has become a daily ritual for him and for the millions of people now watching. But this event would be different. The outbreak was moving faster than he had expected, with the number of confirmed cases doubling every three days, and he decided he needed to show people — including the White House — how desperate the situation had become. (McKinley and Goldmacher, 3/24)
The Hill:
NYPD Says Over 200 Members Have Tested Positive For Coronavirus
New York's coronavirus outbreak has also impacted the city's police force, with more than 200 NYPD employees testing positive for the virus, the police commissioner said Tuesday. Commissioner Dermot Shea said that 211 NYPD members have tested positive for the virus, including 177 uniformed officers and 34 civilian employees, local station WCBS reported. Shea said that another 2,700 to 2,800 are out sick. (Budryk, 3/24)
CNN:
New Rochelle Coronavirus: Here's Where It Stands Now
When New Rochelle, New York, found it had a cluster of people with coronavirus, the state took several drastic measures to stem its spread. Officials set up a one-mile "containment zone" inside of which schools, religious events and large gatherings were closed. The National Guard was called in to help coordinate delivering meals to those in quarantine. A drive-thru coronavirus testing site was opened. Those moves hardly seem drastic now. For New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City, the measures have been effective. (Levenson, 3/24)
