Hospitals in New York City are nearing capacity due to an influx of coronavirus patients, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Wednesday.

COVID-19 has killed 192 people in New York City, according to Johns Hopkins University, but Gottlieb said that number will rise if the hospitals become overwhelmed.

"New York City hospitals right now are on the brink of what I would call being maxed out in terms of their available capacity," he said on "Squawk Box." "New York has another about five weeks to go for this between now and when they're going to hit peak hospitalizations, so the fact that they're stretched right now is worrisome."

The virus has infected more than 15,500 people in New York City, which accounts for more than 25% of all U.S. cases, according to Johns Hopkins. However, the number of actual cases across the country is likely significantly higher, officials have acknowledged. Testing in the U.S. has been hampered by delays and a restrictive diagnostic criteria that limited who could get tested.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the state has about 3,000 to 4,000 ventilators, a potentially lifesaving device that helps patients breathe, and has purchased about 7,000 more, but it needs a minimum of 30,000 additional ventilators. He added that the state could need up to 140,000 hospital beds in 14 to 21 days. He said the state currently has about 53,000 hospital beds.