Schools Could Remain Closed Rest Of Year

The Yeshiva World

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that he spoke with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence about the city’s urgent need for medical supplies to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“I spoke to President Trump and Vice President Pence last night in detail and I’m glad we had the conversation and I appreciated the focus of the conversation but what I need to see is the real material support for the people of my city, 8.6 million people who are right now in the crosshairs,” de Blasio said on CNN.

Mayor Bill de Blasio told the media today that he “can’t see” NYC schools reopening in April and fears schools will remain closed through the end of the year. De Blasio also said he has no current plans to shut down city streets but will be announcing a plan later Monday for cracking down on New Yorkers not social distancing as advised.

Federal aid to the city so far includes promises of temporary hospitals run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the military.

But de Blasio, a Democrat, says the city also desperately needs the federal government’s help getting medical supplies and equipment, including ventilators.

“We’re literally in that very tight window now that if we don’t get the ventilators in particular we will actually start to lose lives that could have been saved.”

For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms such as fever and cough, and the vast majority recover. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.

New York City hospitals are just 10 days from running out of “really basic supplies,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said late Sunday.

“If we don’t get the equipment, we’re literally going to lose lives,” de Blasio told CNN.

De Blasio has called upon the federal government to boost the city’s quickly dwindling supply of protective equipment. The city also faces a potentially deadly dearth of ventilators to treat those infected by the coronavirus.

Health care workers also warned of the worsening shortages, saying they were being asked to reuse and ration disposable masks and gloves.

New York City hospitals scrambled Sunday to accommodate a swell new of patients, dedicating new COVID-19 wings in their facilities. It remained “extremely busy” at Northwell hospitals, a spokesman said, adding their intensive care units were filling up.

“A number of hospitals have reported that they are becoming overwhelmed,” said Jonah Allon, a spokeswoman for Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

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