Cuomo Says NY State Is Scrambling for Ventilators Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to the media and tours a newly opened drive through COVID-19 mobile testing center in New Rochelle, New York on March 13, 2020. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday that the state health care system is struggling to source an adequate number of respiratory ventilators, an essential device required for treating coronavirus patients.

“Our main scramble now is for ventilators,” Cuomo said at a press conference in New York on the state’s COVID-19 response. “The number that we need is much higher.”