Coronavirus: Trump says New York 'really in trouble' but will be 'fine' after 100 die in one day
President says state has 'more than enough' ventilators after governor slams claims as 'incorrect and grossly uninformed'
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Your support makes all the difference.After nearly 100 people in New York City died within seven hours, Donald Trump told Fox & Friends that the state will be "fine" through the coronavirus pandemic, which has sickened nearly 60,000 people in the state, while the president continues to spar with Governor Andrew Cuomo and claims that the state has "more than enough" medical equipment to treat its patients.
Ninety-eight people in New York City died on Sunday, raising the city's death toll to nearly 800.
The president continues to claim that the state had already received "thousands" of ventilators that were "not used" after telling Fox host Sean Hannity last week that he doesn't believe states need the equipment they're requesting to prepare for and treat a likely surge in Covid-19 patients in the days and weeks ahead.
Despite frequently repeating that "no one" could have predicted the pandemic, Mr Trump has suggested the governor wasn't prepared for the virus as he blasted the state for keeping the equipment in "storage."
Governor Cuomo has said that the president is "incorrect and grossly uninformed" as makeshift hospitals are built in the city to potentially treat an overwhelmed health system.
On Friday, he said: "The hospitals don't need them yet. The hospitals aren't at their apex. The hospitals have enough ventilators today, but their numbers are going up."
The state is anticipating a "peak" of patients within the next few weeks.
He said: "So the point is, 'well, they're in a stockpile, you must not need them' is just ignorant — of course you don't need them today! You need them when you hit the apex, which is 30,000. We're not there yet."
On Monday, Mr Trump said: "Based on what we see they should have more than enough."
After an initial FEMA shipment of only 400 critically needed ventilators to the state, the governor hit back at the president last week, saying: "You want a pat on the back for sending 400 ventilators when we need 30,000?"
Mr Trump responded saying that Governor Cuomo "should have ordered the ventilators" years earlier.
The president also attributed the governor's favourable approval ratings in the wake of the outbreak to himself.
He said: "One of the reasons his numbers are high on handling it is because of the federal government ... One of the reasons he's successful is because we've made him successful."
The president also continued pushing his Easter timetable, aiming to "re-open" the US by the end of April, after which he said the number of cases will go "down" without any evidence suggesting that will be the case without strict adherence to "social distancing" guidelines and significant aid to US hospital systems. By 1 June, he claimed: "It's a terrible thing to say but the deaths will be brought down to a very low number."
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