China Sends Help To New York

It seems like strange bedfellows indeed: China and New York, both ravished by then novel coronavirus.

But the Asian nation where COVID-19 originated is finally recovering, and the worst is yet to come for New Yorkers, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Saturday, April 4.

Speaking at what has become a daily press conference, Cuomo was thrilled to learn the Chinese had donated 100 ventilators to the state, and “they will be arriving today.” The shipment was slated to arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

“This is a big deal, and it’s going to make a significant difference for us,” Cuomo said. The governor credited Jack Ma and Joe Tsai, the founders of the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba, as well as Huang Ping, the Chinese Consul General in New York. He said the equipment was needed to “get us to the other side of the apex. We have to get through it.”

To that end he pointed out the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center has been reimagined as a field hospital with 2500 beds. “It will be a significant relief valve” for downstate medical centers that become overcrowded, he said.

Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing is also being eyed by the state as a place where medical patients could be housed if the need becomes overwhelming on Long Island.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com