During his daily briefing on the coronavirus on Thursday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned that the state is quickly running out of ventilators.
"At the current burn rate, we have enough ventilators for six days."
He also said the state will pay a premium to manufacturers -- and cover the cost of converting their factories, too -- to produce gowns and other badly needed protective gear.
In New York, where hospitals are getting swamped with patients and the worst of the outbreak is still probably weeks away, more than 85,000 medical volunteers have stepped forward, according to Cuomo, about a quarter of them from out of state. He thanked them profusely.
"I will be the first one in my car to go wherever this nation needs help as soon as we get past this. I will never forget how people across this country came to the aid of New Yorkers when they needed it," he said.
Among the daily numbers Cuomo released on Thursday:
-The number of deaths in NYS: 2,373, up 432 from 1,941 on Wednesday.
-Confirmed cases: 92,381 in NYS, up from 83,712 (most cases are downstate, but Cuomo says all counties in the state now have confirmed cases).
-Hospitalizations: 13,383 up from 12,226. (of those, 3,396 are in ICU)
-Cuomo also notes that more than 7,400 patients have been discharged from the hospital.
Cuomo’s brother, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who revealed in recent days he is living in the basement of his home because he has the COVID-19 virus, called in for a video chat during the Thursday briefing.
"I'm doing pretty well, all things considered,” Chris Cuomo said. He also said that the illness is a tough one, and it will be a "long slog."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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