Over 1,100 ventilators are being sent from China and Oregon to New York, which is not yet ready to handle a peak in coronavirus cases that is expected in the coming days, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.
The Chinese government and billionaires Jack Ma and Joseph Tsai, the co-founders of the online marketplace Alibaba, facilitated a gift of 1,000 ventilators that were due to arrive on Saturday, Cuomo said. He said the state of Oregon volunteered to send 140 additional ventilators.
More than 3,500 people have died from COVID-19 in New York state, which has reported more than 113,000 positive cases. Nationwide, more than 278,000 people have been infected, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Globally, more than 1.1 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed, and over 60,000 people have died.
The CDC is now recommending Americans wear cloth face coverings in public to help slow the spread of the virus. Surgeon General Jerome Adams explained there are a significant portion of people infected by the virus who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic, but who can nonetheless transmit the virus. The recommendation to wear coverings in public is intended to prevent these individuals from unknowingly infecting others.
Detailed information from the CDC on coronavirus treatment and prevention.
Contributing: The Associated Press
