SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California's governor says the state will loan 500 ventilators to the national stockpile for use by New York and other states experiencing a crush of hospitalizations due to the new coronavirus.
Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement on Monday follows commitments by Oregon and Washington to transfer ventilators to New York. It also comes despite California's request for 10,000 ventilators from the national stockpile, which has not been fulfilled.
“California is stepping up to help our fellow Americans in New York and across the country who are being impacted the hardest right now by the COVID-19 pandemic. We still have a long road ahead of us in the Golden State – and we’re aggressively preparing for a surge – but we can’t turn our back on Americans whose lives depend on having a ventilator now. We’re meeting this moment with compassion. I know that if the tables were turned and we were experiencing a hospital surge, other states would come to our aid and provide ventilators just as we are today,” Newsom said in a statement posted on the governor’s office website.
As of Friday, Newsom said the state had about 4,200 ventilators. California is expecting its coronavirus peak to come sometime in May.