China, Oregon sending over 1,100 ventilators to NY: Cuomo

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York is poised to get over 1,100 ventilators from China and Oregon as it scrambles to line up more breathing machines for the sickest coronavirus patients, Gov. 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 Saturday, Cuomo said. He said the state of Oregon had volunteered to send 140 more breathing machines.

“It’s going to make a significant difference for us,” said the Democratic governor. Cuomo had said on Thursday that the state’s stockpile of ventilators would be exhausted in six days if the number of critically ill coronavirus patients kept growing at the current rate.

New York is the pandemic’s U.S. epicenter, with over 113,700 confirmed cases as of Saturday morning. More than 3,500 people statewide have died, and about 15,000 coronavirus patients are hospitalized. Thousands have needed ventilators.