New York state to build temporary hospitals

The US state of New York will build four temporary hospitals to address imminent capacity issues due to the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

New York, March 23 The US state of New York will build four temporary hospitals to address imminent capacity issues due to the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

On Sunday, he listed the four sites selected as the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, a Westchester county center, and locations at State University of New York's Stony Brook campus and Old Westbury campus, reports Xinhua news agency.

The state, which has been deemed the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, has been working with the Army Corps of Engineers to explore possible locations to be turned into temporary medical facilities, Cuomo told the media here.

"And now we just have to get it done and get it done quickly," he said.

Regarding the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will erect a federal hospital within the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, he said: "The federal hospital by FEMA is different than (from) the Army Corps of Engineers temporary facility."

"The FEMA hospitals come with staff and with supplies. They're in 250-bed configurations. We're asking for four of those 250-bed configurations to be assembled in Javits Center," Cuomo added.

Experts predicted the peak of COVID-19 outbreak in New York will take place in early May, which would require as many as 110,000 hospital beds.

Currently, the state has about 53,000.

The Governor also urged President Donald Trump to implement the Defense Production Act, which could mandate private companies to produce essential medical equipment.

"We have cries from hospitals around the state. I have spoken to other governors across the country. They have the same situation," said Cuomo.

"So I believe the federal government should immediately utilize the Defense Production Act."

Earlier on Sunday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city, where some 9,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed, wass running out of medical supplies, such as gloves, gowns and masks, in 10 days.

Confirmed cases and fatalities both continued to surge nationwide, reaching 33,276 and 417, respectively, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

Of the overall confirmed cases, New york state accounted for about 15,000 of them.

( With inputs from IANS )