Mayor de Blasio fears city hospitals could run out of basic medical supplies, including surgical masks, in the coming weeks.
“I’m deeply concerned about medical supplies,” de Blasio told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday night.
“Ventilators, surgical masks and surgical gowns — really basic stuff. We’re deeply concerned about where we’re going to be in a few weeks,” the mayor said.
Cooper asked de Blasio to clarify his answer: “So you talked to the hospitals in New York City, the health care system in New York City, they’re going to run out in a matter of weeks you’re saying?”
De Blasio answered that, “Some products I’m worried about that it could be as soon as that.”
He added: “Yesterday we saw a jump of 100 cases. Today we saw a jump of hundreds of cases, almost a doubling overnight over 1,800 now pushing 2,000 cases in just this city and at this rate it’s just going to keep increasing.”
The mayor said he spoke with Dr. Mitchell Katz, head of the city’s public hospitals, about the impending shortage.
“He’s got enough supplies for the immediate future, but you’re talking about a massive surge in demand and we have been appealing constantly to the federal government to start a supply system that will actually help our hospitals survive an unprecedented surge in cases,” de Blasio said.
“Hospitals are going to have massive new demands and things like surgical masks you just burn through those in a normal day let alone in an emergency,” he added.
Wednesday morning de Blasio called on the US military to bring their medical capacity and logistical skill to the Big Apple.
“They’re being sidelined right now by Donald Trump when he should be calling them to the front. This is the front right now,” he said.