NYC Coronavirus Ventilator Supply To Run Out By Midweek: Mayor

NEW YORK, NEW YORK — Mayor Bill de Blasio opened his latest news conference with some good news: the city won't run out of ventilators for new coronavirus patients on Sunday as feared.

The bad news: it will run out of ventilators Tuesday or Wednesday, assuming the worst case scenario.

"It's good in one way that the original projection was cautious and that we have a few more days," he said Sunday. "But I want to be clear, it only means a few more days. Nothing more I can guarantee beyond that. And we have real work to do to fill that gap going forward."

De Blasio took the stage Sunday afternoon — a day his administration marked as a potential turning point in the fight against COVID-19. It also happened a few hours after Gov. Andrew Cuomo held a news conference in which he very cautiously laid out a few signs the coronavirus outbreak may be reaching its peak.

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For his part, de Blasio alternated between good news and bad news — yes, the city still has ventilators but, no, those that remain likely won't last beyond Tuesday or Wednesday, he said.

The city has to date distributed 2,865 ventilators to hospitals for coronavirus patients, de Blasio said. It has just 135 in reserve, he said.

"That's the entire reserve we have left for all of this city of 8.6 million people," he said.

The new coronavirus in severe cases attacks the respiratory system, making ventilators a key part of treatment to prevent deaths.

De Blasio said the city will need at least 1,000 to 1,500 ventilators to get through the period of Wednesday through Sunday. That assumes the current rate of 200 to 300 patients a day needing intubation continues, he said.

Going forward, de Blasio appealed to the federal and state government to release ventilators from their 10,000-strong and 2,800-strong respective ventilator stockpiles. He said the city's needs on protective gear and other supplies are in much better shape for the time being.

De Blasio also welcomed nearly 300 federal health care professionals who arrived in the city Sunday to help with the outbreak. He asked for 1,450, he said.

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