New York state is looking to open additional temporary medical sites to treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday.

The state hopes to construct “surge sites” in every borough of New York City, Cuomo said. Sites currently being considered include the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and the College of Staten Island, he said.

The governor would like to continue working with the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare the new sites, and will urge President Donald Trump to authorize the projects, he said. The Army Corps has already established surge sites in Stony Brook, Westchester and Westbury, New York, as well as at the Javits Center in New York City.

“We want to do everything we can to be ready for that increased capacity that could hit us,” Cuomo said. “That would give us coverage all across the downstate area, with proximate facilities to every location downstate, and frankly is the best plan we can put together and execute in this timeline.”

The novel coronavirus causes COVID-19, a respiratory disease that has infected over 593,000 and killed over 27,000 worldwide. New York has confirmed 44,635 cases of COVID-19, with 7,377 new cases since yesterday, Cuomo said.

New York state has confirmed 519 deaths from COVID-19, Cuomo said. The number has risen by 134 since yesterday.

“That is going to continue to go up, and that is the worst news that I could possibly tell the people of the state of New York,” Cuomo said. “But it’s not unexpected news, either.”

Over 6,400 people in the state have been hospitalized with COVID-19, with more than 1500 patients in intensive care, Cuomo said. More than 2,000 COVID-19 patients have been discharged from the hospital, he said.

Cuomo is also considering using retrofitting dorms at two CUNY colleges—City College and Queens College—to serve as medical sites, he said. The state has also scouted Marriott Brooklyn Bridge Hotel as a potential overflow site.

“As you can see, we’re looking far and wide, very creative, aggressive, and finding all the space we can possibly find and converting it to be ready in case we have that overflow capacity,” Cuomo said.

The U.S.N.S. Comfort, a Navy hospital ship deployed to serve as a site for overflow patients, will also arrive in New York Harbor on Monday, Cuomo said.

The governor ordered all state schools to remain closed until April 15. He had previously closed all state schools until April 1 and ordered schools to put a plan in place to provide meals and distance learning opportunities while closed. Onondaga County earlier this month closed its schools until April 14.

“This is a different beast that we’re dealing with,” Cuomo said. “This is an invisible beast, it is an insidious beast. This is not going to be a short deployment.”

Published on March 27, 2020 at 10:04 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu