At his regular briefing on the pandemic, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz on Friday said he had spoken to the leaders at all the local hospitals and could not find any ventilators that are not in use. He said he had shared that information with the governor's staff.

"There's not going to be any movement of ventilators from Erie County," he said, adding: "There is not a single person who is going to have a ventilator taken away."

State officials did not provide details on how, where and when the order would be carried out.

“Don’t use the word ‘seize.’ I didn’t use that word. It’s a harsh kind of word," Cuomo told a reporter at the Capitol.

He said the order is about “sharing” the equipment. Demand for equipment is higher downstate, but the caseloads also have been rising upstate.

“We’re going to shift resources all across the state to whatever place has that need at that time," he said.

Kaleida Health, Catholic Health, Erie County Medical Center and two smaller hospitals in Niagara County last month reported having a total of 363 ventilators, although the two large hospital systems said they were expanding their ventilator capacity.