NEW YORK (TURKISH JOURNAL) – By Janet Ekstract – In his daily press briefing on Sunday, New York Governor Cuomo said there’s a shift to Long Island in increasing cases of coronavirus. He said though the number of deaths is up to 4,449, the good news is that more people are being discharged from hospitals and ICU admissions are down. Cuomo said as the number of cases in Long Island rises, the number of cases in New York City will reduce.
As the governor mentioned in Saturday’s briefing, he’s very worried about the increase on Long Island due to what he termed a weaker healthcare system in that area. Cuomo said the reason it’s hard to plan is because coronavirus models shift all the time. He said there is a difference of opinion about what happens at the apex. Cuomo asked: “Is the apex a point or is it a plateau where the number of cases stay high for a period of time and drop?”
What remains as the main issue in New York City is still a lack of ventilators which is causing hospital personnel to have to use splitting by using one ventilator for two patients. Cumo reiterated: “We’re running short of supplies all across the board.” Cuomo added: “I can’t say to a hospital we will send you all the supplies you need, I dont have them.” He also mentioned: “We’re talking about a two or three or four day supply which makes the hospital system uncomfortable.” The governor explained that “We’re literally going day to day with eveverything.” He said the situation is untenable and said: “There’s not enough in the federal stockpile to take care of all the states supplies.” With regard to Javits Center, he commented that everyone is working very hard to “get Javits up and running.”
Cuomo said: “The operational challenge for the healthcare system is impossible, it’s overcapacity. We have an overcapacity situation – you’re asking a system that has never done this before, more than it is designed to do, with less.” He said the only operational plan that can work is to ”flex the system” so that all hospital networks work together as one system, which he said, has never been done. The governor also commented: “We have to balance the patient load among all these hospitals,” adding that some patients will have to be transferred to another hosptial that has more capacity. As Cuomo surmised: “Life is options and we don’t have any other options.”
The governor mentioned that the federal government is deploying about 1,000 medical personnel to New York and he took a moment to thank all frontline personnel as well as those heading New York’s healthcare system. To combat the virus, there are a number of treatments that are being expedited right now, the governor said. He mentioned the new antibody treatment, convalescent plasma and said a vaccine is being worked on. Cuomo added: “I think you see the return to normalcy when we have an approved rapid testing program that can be brought to scale.” Cuomo said: ‘The coronavirus is truly vicious, vulnerable people must isolate” He added: “We’re all watching a movie and we’re waiting to see what the next scene is.”
Cuomo explianed the “accompanying affliction” of coronavirus is ‘cabin fever’ – a feeling of isolation, radical mood swings, resentment of people around you and being prone to irrational outbursts. He said this condition “threatens our Constitution.” The governor suggested people think of ways they can deal it and to maintain a perspective on the situation. He reminded everyone that “generations in the past have gone through terrible times.” In addition, he said: ‘The concept here is that people have to get is that nobody can handle this alone.” As New Yorkers, he added: “Our wisdom here in New York, our mental wisdom and our ethos is we’ll help one another.”
