New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday said President Trump isn’t looking at the facts of “astronomical growth” in the coronavirus epidemic and estimated that more than half of the residents in his city will be infected at some point.
“We need help now,” Mr. de Blasio said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “When President Trump says the state of New York doesn’t need 30,000 ventilators, with all due respect to him, he’s not looking at the facts of this astronomical growth of this crisis.”
Mr. de Blasio was referring to comments Mr. Trump had made Thursday evening in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.
“I have a feeling that a lot of the numbers that are being said in some areas are just bigger than they’re going to be,” the president said. “I don’t believe you need 40,000 or 30,000 ventilators. You know, you go into major hospitals sometimes and they’ll have two ventilators. And now all of a sudden they’re saying, ’Can we order 30,000 ventilators?’ “
Mr. de Blasio said they have 2,500 ventilators but that the city needs 15,000. Gov. Andrew Cuomo had said on Thursday that the state could need up to 40,000 ventilators and they have about 12,000 on hand.
“This is going to get worse before it gets better,” Mr. de Blasio said. “We believe over half the people in this city will ultimately be infected.”
He pointed out that in about 80% of cases, it’s like having a cold or the flu with a recovery time of seven to 10 days.
New York City had more than 21,390 positive coronavirus cases as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the state Department of Health. The state had more than 37,200 positive cases and at least 385 coronavirus-related deaths — easily the most in the country.
The U.S. has more than 85,000 positive cases — now the most out of any country in the world — and more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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