Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday said during a press conference he would sign an executive order allowing the government to seize unused ventilators in New York state and redistribute them to hospitals in need as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
“The National Guard are going to be deployed to pick them up across the state, and deploy them to places that we need them,” Cuomo said during a press conference on Friday.
He estimated that about several hundred ventilators would be redistributed.
“Am I willing to deploy the National Guard and inconvenience people for several hundred lives? he asked. “You’re damn right I am.”
Cuomo said the executive order would also apply to unused medical PPE.
“We are running out of ventilators and we could have people dying because there are no ventilators,” he said.
AG Blanche unveils federal charges against 160 defendants in pandemic relief sweep
Seven noncitizens charged in North Texas election-integrity investigation
Pentagon reveals secret space weapons are already in orbit — but won’t say what they do
WATCH: ‘Lifelong Democrat’ admits she is ‘ashamed’ of party after son killed in illegal immigrant crash
Karl Rove to Vote for Pro-Trans Dem After GOP Candidate Shares Texas Student Section Pic
Watch: Chiefs Used a Clever Bit of ‘Gamesmanship’ During TV Timeouts to Gain an Edge Over the Broncos
Minnesota attorney general says Somali Muslims have been defrauded by housing scheme claiming to be sharia-compliant
EXCLUSIVE: Inside Vance’s intimate Capitol Hill huddle as Republicans confront tough midterm terrain
Judge bars Kennedy Center board from putting Trump’s name on building at all
Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s ‘effective altruism’ network tied to AI regulation push
Pentagon Inspector General Says Iran War Has Caused ‘Strategic Inventory Shortfalls’ of U.S. Munitions
Former CNN Host Reveals Father Beat Her Until She Was ‘Black and Blue’
Lindsay Clancy judge indefinitely impounds juror names, citing safety and ‘divisive’ attention
Army veteran paratrooper who deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan before helping rescue Fox News reporter dead at 50
China expert warns Beijing wants Americans — not the CCP — to spread its message
Cuomo said he would issue the order to prevent people from dying.
“I’m just not going to allow us to go there, I think it would be wholly irresponsible,” he said, noting that upstate New York hospitals did not have as many cases.
Cuomo said that hospitals would get their seized ventilators back when the need was filled or the state would pay for them.
“I apologize for the hardship to those institutions, ultimately there is no hardship, if you don’t get the ventilator back, I give you my personal word I will pay you for the ventilator,” he said.
“Don’t use the word ‘seize,’” Cuomo said to reporters, calling it a “harsh word.”
“It’s sharing of resources,” he said.
Story cited here.
