New York, New Jersey Warn of Intensive-Care Shortages for Virus

(Bloomberg) -- The leaders of New York and New Jersey raised alarms about potentially severe shortages of intensive-care rooms and equipment to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases. New Jersey’s governor requested federal military assistance to deal with shortfalls.

New York state will be in desperate need of hospital beds and ventilators soon and may need more than 12 times the existing intensive-care capacity, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

The state is estimating the numbers of cases caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak will peak in 45 days, at which point it will need between 55,000 and 110,000 hospital beds, as well as 18,600 to 37,200 intensive-care unit beds, Cuomo told reporters in Albany. New York currently has 53,000 hospital beds and 3,000 ICU beds available, he said.

Coronavirus cases have reached 1,374 in New York, and 12 people have died as of Tuesday, according to state data. There is a hospitalization rate of 20%, Cuomo said. The actual percentage of patients needing hospitalization is likely far lower, since many people with mild cases haven’t been diagnosed.

“Right now, the curve and the apex is at a point that is unsustainable for our health-care system,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo said he asked President Donald Trump for help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Trump agreed and is working on providing the state with what it needs, Cuomo said.

Cuomo, along with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut, has ordered a slew of closings this week to “flatten the curve” of infection so hospitals can handle the expected wave of patients that will increase demand for care.

Separately, in a letter to Trump, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wrote that the state’s 2,000 intensive care beds appear to be “a fraction of the capacity” that will be needed in the coming weeks. He said health care workers “may be forced to make the agonizing decisions that the world has seen in Northern Italy” by having to deny lifesaving care to Covid-19 patients. Murphy asked for the U.S. military and the Army Corps of Engineers to help expand hospital and intensive care unit capacity statewide.

At a press briefing, Murphy said all indoor shopping malls and amusement centers must shut down by 8:00 p.m. Tuesday until the emergency ends. Restaurants in the malls with separate entrances may remain open for takeout and delivery.

Cuomo said at his briefing on Tuesday that he alone has the authority to order citizens to shelter in place and has no plans to do so for New York City.

His comments contrasted with those of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who earlier said the most populous U.S. city may be forced to order residents to confine themselves in their homes in an effort to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

“We hear New York City is going to quarantine itself; that can’t happen without state approval,” Cuomo said Tuesday in a press briefing. “I have no interest whatsoever or plan whatsoever to contain New York City.”

San Francisco has ordered residents to shelter in place, prompting a question to de Blasio of whether he would consider doing so during a CNN interview.

“We’re absolutely considering that,” de Blasio said. “It could get to that for sure, it could get to that for the whole country.”

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