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New York officials are racing to buy thousands of lifesaving medical ventilators that help severely ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus to breath.

The push is part of a series of drastic actions aimed at preventing a surge in COVID-19 patients from overwhelming New York hospitals, including the deployment this week of a floating Navy hospital to New York City harbor.

Central to the effort is a global run on ventilators as the U.S., China and other European countries hit hard by COVID-19 compete over the high-tech breathing systems, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a press briefing Thursday.

Today, New York’s health system has about 6,000 ventilators, but it is expected to need 30,000 to handle the potential influx in COVID-19 patients in coming weeks and months, Cuomo said, calling it the key to victory in a multi-front fight against the virus.

“It’s going to be the number of hospital beds; it’s going to be the amount of protective equipment; and most of all it’s going to come down to ventilators, a piece of equipment that up until now was relatively inconsequential,” he said.

On Thursday morning, he appeared live on CNN next to ventilator in the ornate Red Room of the state Capitol to make his point.

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Federal action to make more ventilators

In response to the crisis, President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was invoking the federal Defense Production Act to speed the production of masks, ventilators and other equipment vital to helping doctors and nurses treat coronavirus patients.

The presidential powers have historically been used to mobilize private companies to manufacture military gear during war time.

On Thursday, GE Healthcare announced it is adding manufacturing lines for ventilator production and increasing the number of shifts to produce them around the clock.

“Our dedicated teams are working around the clock to ensure that our customers and partners on the front lines have the equipment and servicing needed to diagnose and treat patients with COVID-19,” GE Healthcare President & CEO Kieran Murphy said in a statement.

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The other medical equipment in GE Healthcare’s COVID-19 plan included ultrasound devices, mobile X-ray systems, patient monitors and CT scanners.

The Chicago-based company, which is affiliated with the GE Global Research facility near Albany, didn’t immediately answer questions about the timeline for getting the new units to hospitals. It is manufacturing the ventilators in Wisconsin.

The moves came as the number of positive cases in New York again jumped overnight to a total of 4,152, up 1,769 from Wednesday.

The numbers have increased rapidly as more New Yorkers get tested. Cuomo said 22,284 people have been tested in this month, with 7,584 new ones in the past day.

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Why ventilators are crucial to New York’s COVID-19 response

New York authorities and health officials are issuing dire warnings about the ramifications of a ventilator shortage, citing Italy’s rapidly deteriorating battle with COVID-19.

As the coronavirus infected tens of thousands in a matter of weeks, overwhelmed Italian hospitals began rationing care based on age and survival odds, forcing doctors to choose who gets access to the lifesaving ventilators.

To avoid a similar fate, New York and many other states have shut down gathering places and imposed increasingly strict social distancing rules.

It is all aimed at slowing the virus’ spread enough to protect hospitals, as well as allowing science more time to discover a COVID-19 treatment and vaccine.

Cuomo said the push to supplement hospital bed capacity by retrofitting college dorms, nursing homes and military bases to house patients all hinges on finding more ventilators.

“The bed is great but if you don’t have the ventilator, then the bed is virtually useless,” he said.

Amid the worldwide rush to buy ventilators, the U.S. government also maintains a stockpile of about 12,000 of them, Cuomo said, noting the reserves would fall short of meeting New York’s demand let alone the entire country.

Experts estimated there are currently about 100,000 ventilators across the country total, despite the American Hospital Association projecting 960,000 Americans could need mechanical help to breathe during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The problem is a lot of these patients are being ventilated for numerous days. Some are off in three to four days. Others are on for several weeks. That is where you get the supply-demand issue." Timothy Myers, a respiratory therapist and chief business officer of the American Association for Respiratory Care, told USA TODAY.

Cuomo on Thursday said state officials are scouring the globe in an attempt to buy more ventilators during the high-stakes competition.

“There is a global rush for ventilators and literally we have people on the ground in China; you can’t even buy them from China,” he said.

“Every state is looking for them, that’s why the federal government has to come in and handle this.”

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David Robinson is the state health care reporter for the USA TODAY Network New York. He can be reached atdrobinson@gannett.com and followed on Twitter:@DrobinsonLoHud