California, Washington send ventilators to NYC even as they fight coronavirus at home
Nearly half of all coronavirus deaths in the United States have occurred in New York, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The state needs tens of thousands more ventilators to help COVID-19 patients, CBS News reported. Washington and California are stepping in to help New York by sending hundreds of ventilators.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday his state will loan 500 state-owned ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile inventory, which will distribute the ventilators to areas in desperate need, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“California is stepping up to help our fellow Americans in New York and across the country who are being impacted the hardest right now by COVID-19 pandemic,” Newsom said.
California follows Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s announcement that his state will return 400 ventilators out of the 500 it received to the national stockpile, the Associated Press reported. Inslee announced the decision over the weekend as New York became the U.S. epicenter in the coronavirus pandemic, where more than a third of the nation’s confirmed cases are reported, according to CBS.
“Every state in America is united in the fight to save the lives of our people. Though our mission is the same, our needs are different,” Inslee tweeted Sunday.
Washington purchased more than 750 ventilators that will arrive in a few weeks, CBS reported. President Donald Trump expressed appreciation for Inslee’s decision at his daily press conference Sunday, according to CBS.
“I’ve said many times over the last few weeks: We are in this together,” Inslee said. “This should guide all of our actions at an individual and state level in the coming days and weeks,” AP reported.
Just a day before Inslee’s announcement, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced her decision via Twitter to send 140 ventilators to New York, The Oregonian reported. Vice President Mike Pence commended Brown’s decision, saying it “was in the very highest American tradition of loving your neighbor,” according to The Oregonian.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that “it’s going to make a significant difference” for his state, The Oregonian reported. Oregon will still have 762 available ventilators to help coronavirus patients in the state, according to The Oregonian.