New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday he would be signing an executive order so ventilators across his state could be confiscated from facilities where they are not being used and relocated to combat the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state of New York is the epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., and Mr. Cuomo has been stressing the need for more ventilators to treat patients who are suffering from respiratory illness.
“I’m not going to be in a position where people are dying, and we have several hundred ventilators in our own state somewhere else,” the governor said. “I’m not going to let people die because we did not redistribute ventilators.”
He said facilities that have a ventilator taken from them will either later have it returned or be reimbursed.
The ventilators will be taken to hospitals in need.
“The National Guard will be mobilized to move ventilators to where they are urgently required to save lives,” the governor tweeted.
Mr. Cuomo also weighed in on the debate over material for face masks not being made in America, saying it is “unbelievable” that manufactures aren’t making more N95 masks.
His comment comes after the Trump administration had to push 3M to make more masks and sell to U.S. purchasers through the Defense Production Act Thursday after Fox News reported the company was selling to foreign countries that were outbidding U.S. requests.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.