Presidential Primary Moved to June 23; Plans Made Over Ventilator Need
New York’s presidential primary and the already postponed village elections have been moved to June 23, the same day as the primaries for congressional and state offices.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement early Saturday afternoon as the number of COVID-19-related deaths surged statewide by more than 200 in one day, from 519 to 728, with 7,328 people currently hospitalized from the disease. The number of positive cases has also soared past 52,000.
He said he didn’t think it was wise to bring a lot of people out to vote in one location, touching doorknobs, pens and other objects needed to exercise their civic duty.
“Don’t make me come out 11 times. Put the elections together so I can come out once,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo did not mention whether there will be a change for the May 17 school budget and board of education elections.
In other news from his daily briefing, Cuomo said that with the severe shortage of ventilators that are anticipated, the state has bought 3,000 bag valve masks with another 4,000 on the way. A bag valve mask is a device with a mask that is placed over the patient’s face and another person must manually pump the air to help the person breathe.
He said if the bag valve masks are necessary, members of the National Guard will be trained how to operate the device, which is labor intensive.
The state has projected to need about 30,000 ventilators as the virus, which attacks the respiratory system in many patients, is expected to peak in New York in two to three weeks, Cuomo said.
The governor is also asking health and hospital systems to work together so hospitals with more space can help those that are overloaded. That may also include at some point bringing patients out of New York City to facilities to the north, he said.
“We have to stop operating as individual hospitals,” Cuomo said. “We have to operate as a system and I need the local officials to do that, so patients can and should be moved around those local hospitals as the need requires. Staff should be moved around those local hospitals as circumstances require.”
New York has received permission from President Donald Trump to add four more sites for temporary hospitals in New York City, Cuomo said. In addition to the Javits Center in Manhattan, there is a location in each of the four other boroughs to handle the expected load.
Cuomo said he hadn’t addressed with the president that residents from the New York metropolitan area be quarantined. President Trump raised that possibility in remarks Saturday morning.
“I don’t know how that could be legally enforceable,” said Cuomo.
He mentioned that during his conversation with the president today, they spoke about Monday’s expected arrival of the U.S. Navy ship Comfort that will provide 1,000 additional hospital beds as well as 1,200 medical personnel, 12 operating rooms, a pharmacy and lab, along with other matters.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/