Donald Trump has declared New York State a major disaster area as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases skyrockets and New York City was declared the epicenter of the US outbreak by city Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The US military will now be called in, and the US Army Corps of Engineers have said they plans to take over hotels, sports arenas, college dorms and other buildings in a bid to bolster the number of available hospital rooms.
De Blasio had urged Trump to send in the military and its logistical support to hard-hit New York State, California and Seattle on Wednesday. On Friday de Blasio said: ‘We constitute 30 percent of the cases in the US and 70 per cent of the cases in New York State. Whether we like it or not, we are the epicenter.’
The president’s declaration comes as a hospital in the Bronx revealed it is running low on ventilators and a Queens doctor revealed that an elderly patient experiencing coronavirus symptoms died on the hospital ward floor.
On Friday, patients were seen lining up around the block at test centers in New York City as they tried to get tested for the disease. One video showed hundreds lining up waiting to be tested at Queens’ Elmhurst Hospital.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo had asked for the major disaster declaration, which paves the way for the federal government to pay for up to 75 per cent of the state’s bills for its emergency response to the pandemic.
New York State now has the most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the nation, with 8,515 diagnoses and 56 deaths, as the number of confirmed cases shot up by more than 2,000 between Thursday and Friday. The sudden leap in cases has been attributed to more people now being tested for the disease.
De Blasio said during a press conference Friday that there are 5,151 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the nation’s largest city – more than a fourth of the nation’s total cases. The number later rose to 5,683.
In New York City between the hours of 10am and 6pm on Friday, 14 people died from coronavirus, meaning almost two people an hour died, as the total number of deaths in NYC reached 43 people.
Read the rest here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8137097/President-Trump-declares-New-York-major-disaster-area.html
They have been talking about people lining up to be tested. I have not watched any videos of the lines so I am curious if the people in line to be tested are making sure not to stand too close to others. While waiting for the test do they practice safe social distance? Even if you test negative now the person in front or in back of you may be positive which may result in catching it.
I am pleased to report that while at the grocery store yesterday I spoke with a few people that understand this coronavirus is just a distraction from something else.
Same here in Mckinney, TX. Although getting people to fight or do something about it is nonexistent as always. So there’s a difference between knowing and actually doing. The former is always good, the latter always needs major help.
Good luck Cuomo getting the “taxpayers” to pay your bills when the “tax” deadline has been moved from April 15 to July 15…. Bwahahahahahahahahahahah! Now get those fiat currency papers with no value printed, Fed! Virus needs to eat paper! (that has virus on it already!)