New York City is running out of ventilators and needs 400 by Sunday — and several thousand more over the course of the next week — Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday afternoon.
 

 

CASE COUNT

Citywide, as of Wednesday, there were 47,439 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,374 deaths, according to the state and the city.

Wednesday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported 83,712 confirmed coronavirus cases in New York state and 1,942 deaths. That death count was reported before the city updated its total in the evening.

A week ago, New York City's confirmed case total was 20,011. A week before that: 1,871.

A week ago, New York City’s confirmed coronavirus death count was 280. A week before that: 11.

The borough-by-borough breakdown, with some fluctuation in the numbers:

  • Queens: 15,217 confirmed cases
  • Brooklyn: 12,274
  • The Bronx: 8,607
  • Manhattan: 7,022
  • Staten Island: 2,552

The numbers of cases are expected to only increase exponentially over the coming weeks and months as more tests are conducted.

12,226 people were hospitalized in New York state, including 3,022 in the ICU, Cuomo said Wednesday morning. To date, 6,142 coronavirus patients have been discharged.

CITY RUNNING OUT OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES

For weeks, the mayor has pleaded for more medical supplies and has received some, but he cited April 5 as the date the city could begin running out of critical medical resources.

In his daily coronavirus briefing Wednesday, de Blasio said the city has enough face shields, googles, and surgical gloves for the week of April 6, but the city is in dire need of ventilators and:

  • 3.3 million N95 masks by this coming Sunday
  • 2.1 million surgical masks
  • 100,00 isolation gowns

Beyond April 5, the city needs 2,500 to 3,000 ventilators over the course of the next week, according to the mayor.

Overall, the city says it needs far more even beyond those — about a week ago, the mayor estimated the city’s ventilator need at 15,000.

By May 1, according to de Blasio, in addition to the 15,000 ventilators, the city needs:

  • 65,000 hospital beds
  • 20,000 ICU beds

The city has attempted to increase bed capacity by turning hotels and other venues into temporary hospitals.

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