New York Has Over 40 Percent of US Coronavirus Cases
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - A huge increase in testing capacity in the state and the quickening spread of the virus has yielded sobering news.
Right now hair and nail salons and other personal-care businesses are ordered closed.
With 4,000 cases tallied, the mayor pushes anew for “shelter in place.”
New York City now has about 4,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 26 people have died from the virus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday morning.
“We now constitute 30 percent of the coronavirus cases in the United States of America, 70 percent of the cases in the state of New York,” Mr. de Blasio said on MSNBC. “We have to take really intense, radical action right away.”
The mayor renewed his call for a “shelter in place” rule for New York City, which would limit public life more than existing restrictions on public gatherings already do, though exactly what would and would not be allowed under it is not clear.
“I think every place that’s at the front line of this crisis needs to move to shelter in place to protect ourselves,” Mr. de Blasio said. “Anything nonessential needs to stop.”
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has resisted calls for such a plan, saying that any such plan would need to be adopted regionally, adding he fears the panic such a move might inspire.
Mr. de Blasio said the city’s need for medical supplies, including face masks, gloves and ventilators, was growing more urgent.
“At the beginning of April, we will run out of basic medical supplies because of the intense strain that is being put on our hospitals by this crisis,” he said. “We literally will not have the things we need to save people’s lives.”
The mayor said the city was not getting the support it needed from the federal government to fight the coronavirus at the most basic level.
“In two weeks time or three weeks time, we will have nothing left, and I have not gotten a hint of an answer from the federal government about when these supplies are coming,” Mr. de Blasio said.
He criticized President Trump for not utilizing the Defense Production Act, suggesting that Mr. Trump could activate the military to ensure necessary supplies be delivered to places fighting the outbreak.
“He should get the hell out of the way and let the military do its job,” the mayor said.
The medical needs include three million N95 masks, 50 million surgical masks and 15,000 ventilators. Health care workers will need another 45 million of each of the following: surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves, regular face masks and face shields, the mayor said.
As of Thursday evening, New York City had tallied 3,615 cases. Of those, the mayor said 1,030 of the cases were in Brooklyn — a staggering increase from 157 on Tuesday. Queens accounted for 980 cases, 976 were in Manhattan, 436 were in the Bronx and 165 were on Staten Island.
