Gov. Cuomo says coronavirus is ‘more dangerous’ than expected as New York cases jump 14% overnight to 75,795 – CNBC

Governor Andrew Cuomo Speaks at a press conference in New York, United States, on March 30, 2020. US Army Corps of Engineers completes a temporary field hospital at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center as the coronavirus continues to spread on March 30, 2020 in New York City.

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Coronavirus cases in New York state jumped 14% overnight to 75,795 with 1,550 COVID-19 deaths across the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

“I’m tired of being behind this virus. We’ve been behind this virus from day one,” Cuomo said at a press conference in Albany. “We underestimated this virus. It’s more powerful, it’s more dangerous than we expected.” 

Cuomo said 10,929 people have been hospitalized with the coronavirus, including 2,710 ICU patients. Almost 400 of those people were hospitalized last night, he said.

“We’re all anxious, we’re all tired, we’re all fatigued. It’s been all bad news for a long time. Our whole lifestyle has been disrupted. Everybody wants to know one thing, when will it end. Nobody knows,” Cuomo said, adding it’s not going to be soon. “We’re dealing with a war we’ve never dealt with before. We need a totally different mindset and organizational transformation.”  

He said the projected peak of the virus isn’t for another 14 to 21 days. 

“If our apex is 14 to 21 days … then have to come down the other side of the mountain once you hit the apex,” he said. “So calibrate yourself and your expectations so you’re not disappointed every morning you get up.”

“‘Well, I’m bored.’ I know! I’m bored!” Cuomo said.

On Monday, Cuomo issued a call on health-care workers across the United States to travel to New York to help the state battle the worst coronavirus outbreak in the nation. He said the outbreak in New York isn’t an anomaly and will hit every part of the U.S.

“We’re the ones who are hit now. That’s today, but tomorrow it’s going to somewhere else, whether it’s Detroit, whether it’s New Orleans. It will work its way across the country,” the governor said.

Earlier that day, Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio welcomed the arrival of a Navy hospital ship that will relieve New York hospitals dealing with a rapidly expanding load of coronavirus patients.

The USNS Comfort will provide roughly 1,000 hospital beds, and 1,200 personnel to New York, Cuomo said on Twitter. It will be used to treat patients who don’t have COVID-19 to free up other hospital rooms for coronavirus patients, the governor has previously said.

Cuomo reiterated Tuesday that COVID-19 patients need ventilators a lot longer than most other respiratory patients, saying the state needs more ventilators.

“The longer people are in, they either get treated and leave or they get put on a ventilator,” he said. “The longer you’re on the ventilator, the less likelihood you’ll come off the ventilator.”

Cuomo also announced that his brother, Chris Cuomo of CNN, tested positive for the virus.

“You don’t really know Chris. You see Chris, he has his show at 9 o’clock on CNN but you just see one dimension,” he said. “You see a person in his job and in his job he’s combative and he’s argumentative and he’s pushing people, but that’s his job. It’s really not who he is. He’s a really sweet, beautiful guy. He’s my best friend.”

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