This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Thursday, March 26th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here. Our guide to understanding New York on PAUSE, NY's stay-at-home order; is here; preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.
5:30 p.m. New York City is setting out to build a total hospital capacity of 60,000 beds by May—triple the existing numbers—to respond to the surge of coronavirus patients.
"The reality is we have a very difficult goal to reach but it is our goal and we will work everyday to reach it," said Mayor de Blasio during a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
The city expects to have 34,000 hospital beds in the coming weeks, which includes expanded capacities at existing hospitals, new beds at a nursing home on Roosevelt Island, and the ongoing build out of four field hospitals led by FEMA at Javits Center.
But urgency is building as reports of hospitals across the city being deluged with patients and not having enough critical supplies. As of Thursday, there are 21,873 confirmed cases of COVID-19. At least 281 city residents have died.
The New York Times on Wednesday reported ER doctors in Elmhurst hospital, which is part of the public healthcare system, saying they were short on beds, protective equipment like masks, and life-saving ventilators.
Over a 24-hour period starting on Tuesday, 13 people died at the hospital. On Thursday, there were four additional deaths at the hospital, according Dr. Mitchell Katz, the head of the Health and Hospitals Corporation.
Katz said the death toll was correlated to the number of patients on ventilators.
Despite the Times story and reports by healthcare workers on social media, city officials have maintained that public hospitals have what they need. The current supplies are enough to last the rest of the week, de Blasio said.
He said Elmhurst hospital received 40 ventilators on Thursday, and added that within the past 10 days, had been sent additional ventilators four times.
Still, the mayor recognized the severity of the crisis at Elmhurst, calling it "the epicenter within the epicenter."
New York City is expected to receive 2,500 ventilators in a few days, far short of the 15,000 city officials said they need to get through May.
With doctors and nurses increasingly besieged, de Blasio began his remarks by recognizing healthcare workers.
"Everyone of you is doing something heroic," he said. "It will be a part of a chapter of this city’s history that will be unforgettable."
Some COVID-19 Patients In New York Have Now Spent A Month On Ventilators
12:55 p.m. The number of deaths from coronavirus in New York state is expected to accelerate in the coming days, a trend that Governor Cuomo said reflects the duration of time that patients have spent on ventilators since hospitalizations from the disease first began to spread here.
As of Thursday morning, at least 385 people in the state have died from coronavirus. There are now 37,258 people statewide that have tested positive, an increase of 6,448 since Wednesday.
During a press conference on Thursday, Cuomo revealed that some COVID-19 patients have now been on ventilators for between 20 to 30 days.
Citing health experts, he said the longer a patient is on a ventilator, the less likely the individual would survive.
"Longer stays without recovery leads to a higher death rate," he said.
Of those who have tested positive, 1,290 are currently in intensive care units, which are beds equipped with ventilators.
Cuomo has said that the state sorely needs 30,000 ventilators to handle the anticipated wave of coronavirus patients in the next three weeks. Intensifying the demand is the relatively long length of time coronavirus patients require the breathing equipment. Those with COVID-19 spend 11 to 21 days on ventilator, compared to three to four days for regular patients.
The federal government this week said it would send 4,000 ventilators to the state, 2,000 of which are to be sent to New York City. State officials have procured 7,000 ventilators on their own.
Governor Cuomo on March 26, 2020
In addition to trying to buy ventilators on the open market, Cuomo announced that the state had approved a so-called splitting technology that allows one ventilator to be used for two people.
The state will also allow hospitals to convert anesthesia machines into ventilators.
In the meantime, state officials are racing to build out an additional 140,000 beds with assistance from FEMA and the U.S. military. Cuomo said that the goal was to build one 1,000-plus bed facility in each of New York City's boroughs as well as in the downstate counties that would handle patient overflow from existing hospitals..
Millions Apply For Unemployment Benefits Nationwide
10:25 a.m. Nearly 3.3 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week in the U.S., an unprecedented number that reflects only the beginning of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the government began tracking applications, the most claims filed in a single week had been fewer than 700,000, in 1982.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreaks, unemployment in the country had been at historic lows. Last week, 282,000 people applied for jobless benefits.
Though the number of claims is historically high, it still does not include a huge swath of people who are suddenly without income but ineligible for benefits, including many part-time and low-wage workers, gig workers, independent contractors and those who are self-employed.
Both New York and California, which have had the most confirmed cases, had surprisingly low unemployment numbers compared to some other states. In New York, claims rose to 80,300 from 66,000 over the last week. Similarly, claims in California numbered 186,800, up from 129,200.
Some experts predicted that these numbers would be revised in the coming weeks.
NYC Reports Highest Single Day Death Toll
New York City on Wednesday evening recorded 88 coronavirus deaths, the largest total in a 24-hour period since the outbreaks began.
All told, at least 280 people in the city have died from the disease. There are now 20,011 confirmed infections.
The latest casualties come as some city hospitals show signs of being overburdened.
"We’re seeing huge challenges and intense stress on hospital capacity," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a Wednesday evening press conference.
At Elmhurst hospital in Queens, 13 people died as a result of Coronavirus in a 24-hour period, according to the New York Times. A Federal Emergency Management Agency leadership briefing obtained by the Times said that all of the more than 1,800 intensive care units in New York City are expected to be full by Friday.
As of Wednesday evening, 3,750 people were hospitalized in NYC. Of those individuals, at least 840 were in the ICU.
On Thursday, the more than 200 medical U.S. Army personnel are expected to arrive in New York from an army base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The soldiers boarded a military aircraft on Wednesday.
Soldiers assigned to the 531st Hospital Center and 586th Field Hospital load their gear and board a military transport aircraft headed for New York state, March 25.
"Army health care professionals are adequately equipped with first-rate training, equipment and technology in order to deal with emergent health issues," said Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, in a statement.
De Blasio has been pleading for the federal government to send in the military to assist the city in its coronavirus response.
Members of the National Guard and FEMA are currently working retrofitting the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan into four makeshift hospitals that will have a total of 1,000 beds. The beds will be used to free up space at existing New York City hospitals. The federal government has also dispatched an 894-foot hospital ship called Comfort to New York harbor. But it is not due to arrive until mid-April.
