New York mobilizes against virus, Trump urges action on aid

New York authorities mobilized to head off a potential public health disaster in the city on Wednesday, with its emergence as the nation's biggest coronavirus hot spot a warning flare and perhaps a cautionary tale for the rest of the country.

A makeshift morgue was set up outside Bellevue Hospital, and the city's police, their ranks dwindling as more fall ill, were told to patrol nearly empty streets to enforce social distancing.

Public health officials hunted down beds and medical equipment and put out a call for more doctors and nurses for fear the number of sick will explode in a matter of weeks, overwhelming hospitals as has happened in Italy and Spain.

New York University offered to let its medical students graduate early so that they could join the battle.

In Washington, President Donald Trump implored Congress to move on critical coronavirus aid without further delay. Senate leaders were trying to overcome late objections to a USD 2 trillion economic rescue package to ease the financial pain of the pandemic.

Worldwide, the death toll climbed past 20,000, according to a running count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The number of dead in the U.S. topped 900, with more than 60,000 infections.

New York State alone accounted for more than 30,000 cases and close to 300 deaths, most of them in New York City.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, again pleading for help in dealing with the onslaught, attributed the cluster to the city's role as a gateway to international travellers and the sheer density of its population, with 8.6 million people sharing subways, elevators, apartment buildings and offices.

"Our closeness makes us vulnerable," he said. "But it's true that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. And our closeness is what makes us who we are. That is what New York is."
But their message shifted, as it did with many other leaders, who found themselves acting on new information in an uncharted, fast-changing situation. Tassier said it wasn't too late: "We can still make things better than they would be otherwise."