Mayor Bill de Blasio Surges Supplies And Resources To Hospitals Citywide

Mayor de Blasio today announced a surge of critical supplies and resources to NYC Health+ Hospitals Elmhurst and other hospitals citywide. This past week, NYC Health + Hospitals added 500 contract nurses to support existing staff system-wide. Health + Hospitals will add an additional 500 nurses this week, as well.

“Elmhurst and our NYC Health+ Hospital system are at the center of this epidemic,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We’re in a state of war, but we cannot go to battle without ammunition. To those who are on the frontlines: your City is behind you, and more help is on the way.”

Citywide, as of 6:00 PM on March 29th, there are 33,474 positive cases of COVID-19 and 776 fatalities. There are 6,250 confirmed cases in the Bronx, 8,887 in Brooklyn, 5,582 in Manhattan, 10,737 in Queens, and 1,984 in Staten Island.

As of 6:00 PM on March 29th, there were at least 6,635 people hospitalized. Of those individuals, at least 1,520 were in the ICU.

Hospital Capacity and Staffing Update

NYC Health + Hospitals/ Roosevelt Island Medical Center on NYC Health+ Hospital/Coler Campus began accepting patients last week. The facility can hold a total of 350 non-COVID patients.

Mount Sinai Health System and the non-for-profit organization Samaritans Purse, with support from the City, will construct a 68-bed field hospital in Central Park’s East Meadow. The site will begin accepting patients on Tuesday, March 31st. This will not be a standalone walk-in facility – Mt. Sinai will manage admissions and transfers.

This past week, NYC Health + Hospitals added 500 contract nurses to support existing staff system-wide. Health + Hospitals will add additional 500 nurses this week as well.

NYC Health+ Hospitals Elmhurst

The City has continued to surge resources to NYC Health+ Hospitals Elmhurst to accommodate the influx of patients with COVID-19 related illness. As of today, NYC Health + Hospitals has added 169 clinicians—a combination of registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician Assistants and physicians—to assist Elmhurst staff. 100 nurses were dispatched this weekend alone. Additionally, 45 clinicians have been re-assigned from outpatient to inpatient for additional reinforcement.

This week, the Hospital received 8,000 N95 masks, 18,000 headcovers, and 2,000 booties. Last week, the Hospital received 13,000 N95s masks, 221,000 surgical gloves, 33,000 face masks, 17,500 gowns, and 1,665 face shields. The City has also re-supplied the Hospital’s number of ventilators 4 times in the last 10 days, and distributed an additional 55 ventilators.

Critical Supply Update

The City has now received all 2,500 ventilators promised by the federal government and are distributing them to hospitals as needed.

The City is also distributing 250,000 masks donated by the UN to help protect health care workers.

Last Friday, 20 trucks distributed critical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), delivering 200,000 N95 masks, 1 million surgical masks, 50,000 face shields, 10,000 boxes gloves, and 40,000 isolation gowns to hospitals citywide. Tomorrow, the City will deliver 800,000 N95 respirators, and 2 million surgical face masks.

To date, the City has distributed a total of 8,918,000 face masks, 179, 328 face shields, 476, 565 N95 masks 159, 204 gowns, 1,570,300 surgical gloves, and 835 ventilators to hospitals across the City.

Preventing Subway Crowding

Beginning tomorrow, Monday, March 30th, the NYPD will conduct spot checks on subway cars to ensure individuals are following social distancing guidance. New Yorkers should call 311 to report overcrowded lines and cars.

Updated Staten Island Ferry Service

Effective 12:00 AM on Monday, March 30, the Staten Island Ferry will further reduce service levels and transition to hourly service.

Enforcement Park Space

The Parks Department and NYPD will continue to enforce social distancing guidelines at Parks and issue fines as necessary. The City has already taken down 80 basketball hoops across the City and will expand this approach to ensure proper protocols are followed. With team sports now banned, the City will down nets from any tennis court of soccer field that are seeing significant enforcement issues.

Stay Informed

Nearly 800,000 New Yorkers have signed up for the City’s COVID text notification system to get regular updates on the latest developments with coronavirus in New York City text COVID to 692-692. New Yorkers can text COVIDESP to 692-692 for updates in Spanish. You will receive regular SMS texts with the latest news and developments. If you have any questions on finding medical care call 311.