New York will partner with six other Northeast states to buy critical coronavirus supplies, and Empire State officials will mandate hospitals statewide to stockpile at least 90 days’ worth of protective gear in preparation for a possible second wave of the contagion, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.
“We’re going to form a consortium with our seven northeast partner states,” Cuomo said in a press briefing at his Midtown Manhattan office, counting New York among the total. “They’ve acted as neighbors.”
New York and its six partners — New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — will now enter the marketplace together to buy some $5 billion of personal protective equipment, tests, ventilators and other equipment from companies and overseas suppliers.
The seven states are already partnered to move towards a gradual reopening of their respective economies.
Previously, states engaged in bidding wars with each other — and even the Federal Emergency Management Agency — in the mad dash to stock up before the worst of the coronavirus hit.
The competition served only to drive up prices, force states to turn to dodgy private sellers and leave some stuck out in the cold, Cuomo said.
“Let’s see if we can’t do the purchasing in this region,” the governor said. “This consortium, I think, will help us get the equipment and get it at a better price.”
Additionally, Cuomo said that all hospitals statewide would be required to build up a cache of at least 90 days’ worth of PPE so that a possible recurrence of the coronavirus doesn’t catch the state off guard.
“We can’t go through this day-to-day moving [of] masks all across the state,” said Cuomo, referring to the balancing act that facilities had to perform on the fly to ensure that all hospitals had enough to get by. “We can’t go through this again.”
The governor laid out battle plans for a potential second wave as the virus’ first strike continued to kill hundreds of New Yorkers.
Another 280 succumbed to the bug in the 24-hour period ending at midnight Sunday, raising the state’s overall death toll to 19,189.
Though the daily fatalities continued on a general downward trend, Cuomo said the losses remained “tremendously distressing.”
“The overall direction is good, even though it’s very painful,” he said.
.https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost...es-to-stock-for-another-coronavirus-wave/amp/
“We’re going to form a consortium with our seven northeast partner states,” Cuomo said in a press briefing at his Midtown Manhattan office, counting New York among the total. “They’ve acted as neighbors.”
New York and its six partners — New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — will now enter the marketplace together to buy some $5 billion of personal protective equipment, tests, ventilators and other equipment from companies and overseas suppliers.
The seven states are already partnered to move towards a gradual reopening of their respective economies.
Previously, states engaged in bidding wars with each other — and even the Federal Emergency Management Agency — in the mad dash to stock up before the worst of the coronavirus hit.
The competition served only to drive up prices, force states to turn to dodgy private sellers and leave some stuck out in the cold, Cuomo said.
“Let’s see if we can’t do the purchasing in this region,” the governor said. “This consortium, I think, will help us get the equipment and get it at a better price.”
Additionally, Cuomo said that all hospitals statewide would be required to build up a cache of at least 90 days’ worth of PPE so that a possible recurrence of the coronavirus doesn’t catch the state off guard.
“We can’t go through this day-to-day moving [of] masks all across the state,” said Cuomo, referring to the balancing act that facilities had to perform on the fly to ensure that all hospitals had enough to get by. “We can’t go through this again.”
The governor laid out battle plans for a potential second wave as the virus’ first strike continued to kill hundreds of New Yorkers.
Another 280 succumbed to the bug in the 24-hour period ending at midnight Sunday, raising the state’s overall death toll to 19,189.
Though the daily fatalities continued on a general downward trend, Cuomo said the losses remained “tremendously distressing.”
“The overall direction is good, even though it’s very painful,” he said.
.https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost...es-to-stock-for-another-coronavirus-wave/amp/
