De Blasio pleads with US to send supplies to NYC

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has issued an urgent missive to the rest of the country: send medical supplies to New York. New York City has been hit extremely hard by the COVID-19 coronavirus, and while the City has a vast medical infrastructure, it's not enough to catch all the cases. De Blasio said that the City barely has a week of medical supplies left, and the coronaviruses numbers are rising.

Ventilators, protective gear for health care staff, and space to put the ill are all at a premium. The Jacob Javitz Convention Center is being turned into an emergency medical facility, as are other locations. De Blasio begged the federal government for help.

The Trump administration has authorized use of the National Guard in New York, as well as in the nation's other hot spots, California and Washington State.

De Blasio said that "We can only get through this week if we don't get some relief quickly We will get to a point where people can't be saved who could have been saved."

This mirrors the dire circumstances that have been faced by health care professionals and government officials across Europe.

De Blasio noted that "It's moving so fast. Even a few days ago I thought we could safely get into April... now I can't even say that."

Ventilators and other equipment is on its way to New York per the Trump administration, but the country itself is in short supply, as severe respiratory illnesses that require them do not usually affect such a high percentage of the population.

De Blasio begged for ventilators from the country at large, saying "anyone in the USA who has a ventilator that you can get to NYC, we need it now— I will take any help from anywhere."

Only a few days prior to the coronavirus crashing headlong into New York City, de Blasio could be seen working out at his local gym, and taking the inevitable catastrophe in stride.

Now that the coronavirus is ravaging City of New York as the world watches, de Blasio noted that "This is just the beginning and I don't mean that to be anything but blunt and honest with New Yorkers and all Americans. It's the beginning of something that will get worse throughout April and into May and we've got to brace ourselves and we've got to change our lives and we absolutely need help from Washington."

New York City is the largest in the country, with a population verging on 9 million, and the number of cases continues to increase. The City is the epicenter of the outbreak in the US. Schools are closed, most of the workforce has been sent home, yet the citizens continue to crowd parks and greenways.