'Shelter-In-Place': New Yorkers Urged To Prepare For A Stricter Lockdown
Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the citizens of New York on Tuesday to prepare in case a shelter-in-place order is implemented in the next 48 hours.
Shelter-in-place is an emergency management plan where citizens will be asked to find a safe location indoors where they can hunker down until authorities give the "all clear." The procedure is usually done when there is a tornado or an active shooter.
New York City has seen 814 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, and a total of seven deaths. New testing capabilities will be rolled out in the coming days. It is expected more than 5,000 patients will be tested daily in the city.
De Blasio said a lot of New Yorkers will lose their job under a shelter-in-place order. He is also expecting the number of cases to increase rapidly as more test results are released.
He also called out the federal government for not taking enough actions to help New Yorkers.
"We need the federal government to play a much bigger role, and we do not have evidence of that yet. We do not see massive federal stimulus yet but we do see a lot of market volatility."
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denied the possibility of a shelter-in-place order. He said lockdown measures that resemble protocols taken in Italy and China.
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Governor Cuomo said Tuesday his attentions are focused on the lack of beds and hospital space for the sick in New York City.
He called out for support in getting as many as 110,000 beds to accommodate the sick by the end of the month.
There are currently 53,000 hospital beds statewide which includes a mere 3,000 in the ICU. Health officials predict the state would need 100,000 more beds within the next month, especially after coronavirus testing has ramped up.
Andrew Cuomo said state officials were now in talks with hospitals about expanding their capacity should the Department of Health waiver rules.
The governor also said health officials are also looking into an increase in staffing to deal with the continuous waves of coronavirus cases. Retired doctors and nurses have been called to pitch in in times of crisis. Medical students may also be asked to render their services.
Cuomo said they are now drawing plans to build temporary medical facilities to deal with the influx of new COVID-19 patients.
Governor Cuomo said if the cases in New York do not reduce to a sustainable level, additional measures and restrictions may be observed in the future.
New York City, along with other tri-state areas, has banned all mass gatherings with 50 or more people. New York also closed all public schools in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.
Coronavirus has infected more than 5,000 people and killed at least 92 in the United States since China confirmed its existence three months ago.