The Trump administration’s approach of treating the federal government and all 50 state governments as independent purchasers of medical equipment needed to combat the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has caused New York to lose 17,000 ventilators it needs to support the large number of COVID-19 cases in the state, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

There have been more than 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide. The virus has killed more than 53,000.

In the United States, there have been 245,442 reported cases of COVID-19, with 6,099 deaths, according to the most recent figures.

The area in and around New York is presently the epicenter of the pandemic, with the largest number of cases in the United States.

“This state has purchased 17,000 ventilators, more than any other state in the nation, and they never got delivered because they’re all coming from China, and 50 states are competing. And I suspect that it’s been a bidding war and the highest order won,” Cuomo said in a television interview. “But we can’t get anymore ventilators. So we have a very elaborate plan on what to do if we run out of ventilators.

“We’re going to move to splitting ventilator where there’s a protocol one ventilator can handle two tubes, two patients. We’re going to use bipap machines and retrofit bipap machines and using the anesthesia machines,” Cuomo added. “And I’m going to redeploy the ventilators to the places that need them.”

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