New York gets 400 ventilators as US braces for COVID-19 peak

New York on Tuesday received 400 ventilators for its hospitals as the people affected by the coronavirus seek medical assistance. The United States has been facing an acute shortage of lifesaving ventilators used in the treatment of the deadly disease.

President Donald Trump tweeted about New York receiving the ventilators for its hospitals and said,"The World Market for face masks and ventilators is Crazy. We are helping the states to get equipment, but it is not easy. Just got 400 Ventilators for @NYCMayor Bill de Blasio. Work beginning in 4 hospitals in New York! Millions of different type items coming!"

Desperate hospitals in the United States say they can't find anywhere to buy the medical devices, which help patients breathe and can be the difference between life and death for those facing the direst respiratory effects of the coronavirus, the New York Times reported.

American and European manufacturers say they can't speed up production enough to meet soaring demand, at least not anytime soon.

And while the acute shortages are global, not just in the United States, some European governments are deploying wartime-mobilization tactics to get factories churning out more ventilators -- and to stop domestic companies from exporting them.

As many as 46,400 people in the United States have been affected by the infection out of which at least 590 people have died as per the data presented by Johns Hopkins University.