Mayor John Cooper announcing the formation of Metro’s Coronavirus task Force March 13. He named Dr. Alex Jahangir Task Force Chair.
NASHVILLE, TN – Mayor John Cooper announced a citywide 14-day quarantine Sunday telling residents to stay at home and ordering all nonessential businesses to close.
The new public health order goes further than previous ones to reduce public gatherings and restrict social contact. The goal is to “flatten the curve” of the disease in Davidson County so fewer people get sick. So far, only two patients with COVID-19 are hospitalized. Two have died.
The healthcare system in Davidson County is not overwhelmed with really sick people and officials want to prevent a big spike in infections that would fill up intensive care units (ICU) with COVID-19 patients.
Local hospitals in New York City are struggling to treat 10,000 COVID-19 patients.
Mayor Bill de Blasio told the local NBC affiliate Thursday that the city will run out of medical supplies in about 10 days. By early April, he said local hospitals will need three million N-95 masks, 50 million surgical masks, 50,000 ventilators, 25 million pairs of gloves, surgical gowns, and other basic medical supplies.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo predicted the outbreak won’t peak until mid-May. By that point, New York state could need 110,000 hospital beds, more than double its current capacity, and more than 37,000 ICU beds. Right now, the state has 3,000.
Cuomo said New York will need at least five times the 5-6 thousand ventilators it has now. Ventilators are a national problem, and Cuomo asked the federal government to authorize the Defense Production Act, so private companies can produce them quickly. So far President Trump has not invoked the act. He signed an executive order March 18 indicating he might.
In Nashville the number of COVID-19 infections continues to climb. Metro’s Health Department confirmed 46 new cases overnight bringing the total to 179. Twenty-seven people have recovered, eight in the last 24 hours. Most people with the coronavirus (149) have milder symptoms and are recuperating at home.
