Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, warned that for that city, which is the epicenter of the coronavirus infection in the USA, April will be more difficult than March, and May will be more difficult than April, and that the city will need federal assistance, writes RTS.
So far, 26.697 people have been infected and 450 have died from the coronavirus in the Big Apple. Only two months after the virus arrived in the USA, the number of positive cases exceeded 100.000, and on this occasion, De Blasio said that a greater focus on health personnel is necessary, because there are not enough of them, which was confirmed by the fact that the authorities invited retired health personnel to join them.
In the fight against the virus, which takes one life every 10 minutes in New York, medical students in their final years are invited to join, with the possibility of accelerated graduation.
De Blasio emphasizes that in terms of federal support, New York "has not taken the place it belongs to" and repeats what he said ten days ago that they need 15.000 respirators, no matter what President Donald Trump thinks about it.
Trump announced that 100 respirators should be produced in the next 100.000 days, to be for the entire country, which has 320 million inhabitants and 104.447 infected.
The virus affected all US federal states on March 17, the last was West Virginia and the first was Washington, which reported the first case on January 21.
Until seven days ago, Washington was the first state in terms of the number of positive tests, and since then the primacy has been taken over by New York, with the emphasis on New York City. In that state, which is the epicenter, more than 40.000 people were infected, and more than 500 died. 10 days ago, there were about 10.000 patients in the USA.
New York remains the epicenter, but there are other potential dangers - Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans.
The Washington Post and ABS News conducted a survey that shows that 9 out of 10 Americans stay at home, which is visible on the surface, but not underground, where the heart of the city still beats - as recently as two days ago, images of crowded New York subways.
On the other side of the country, they fear again that Florida could be the new epicenter for several reasons. One of them is that there are no tests, and the other is that more than four million people over the age of 65 live in the "sunny state" - an American paradise not only for tourists but also for retirees.
On that occasion, de Blasio cited an additional problem - the lack of staff trained to use the repspiarters.
"We are not joking with that number," said the mayor, who recalled the need for masks, surgical, N95 and protective equipment.
New York State needs 30.000 ventilators, and so far they have received 4.000. New York is struggling to get them, the price of one is around 2.500 dollars, but due to the high demand, there is a big competition and the prices are rising.
"I think the announcements that until Easter everything is almost untrue," he said, adding that he doesn't want to give false hope, and that everyone needs to know that "April is going to be harder than March, and May is going to be harder than April."
De Blasio also issued a pair of stern warnings — a $500 fine for those who don't follow the social distancing rule in city parks, and threats such as shutting down all religious facilities if they comply with the orders.
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