Dr. Anthony Fauci said “bottom line” Gov. Andrew Cuomo has to have the ventilators he needs to treat people stricken with the coronavirus in New York as it struggles with the largest number of cases in the nation.
“One way or another, he needs the ventilators that he needs and hopefully we will get him the ventilators that he needs. They may be closer to him that is realized but if they’re not, we’ll get them there. And if they are we’ll try to get him access to the ones that are there, Fauci said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. “Bottom line, he’s got to have the ventilators. Period.”
Fauci, an infectious disease expert who serves on the White House coronavirus task force, was responding to Cuomo’s plea for the federal government to supply 30,000 ventilators as the number of sick New Yorkers is expected to increase.
“There are a lot of different calculations. My experience, I tend to believe Gov. Cuomo,” Fauci said.
He said there are reports that the ventilators are available but need to be made accessible, “we just need to connect the dots to get them accessible.”
He said if the ventilators are there, “get them, if not, then give them to him.”
The governor reiterated the need for the thousands of ventilators last week after the president said he was skeptical such a large number was required.
“All the predictions say you could have an apex needing 140,000 beds and about 40,000 ventilators,” Cuomo said at a press briefing last Friday, relating predictions from health experts about the spread of the disease in the Empire State.
“I hope some natural weather change happens overnight and kills the virus globally. That’s what I hope, but that’s my hope, that’s my emotions, that’s my thoughts. The numbers say you may need 30,000,” he said.
New York has 53,399 cases.
The president, expressing his impatience with negotiations with General Motors to make ventilators, invoked the Defense Production Act on Friday to force the auto-maker to begin manufacturing them.
“Our negotiations with GM regarding its ability to supply ventilators have been productive, but our fight against the virus is too urgent to allow the give-and-take of the contracting process to continue to run its normal course,” Trump said in a statement. “GM was wasting time. Today’s action will help ensure the quick production of ventilators that will save American lives.”
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