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NY Governor Andrew Cuomo was NY Governor when the document was written outlining a ventilator shortage and who should be allowed to die (triage) in a major pandemic: “VENTILATOR ALLOCATION GUIDELINES“, New York State Task Force on Life and the Law New York State Department of Health November 2015. He does not appear to have presented a budget asking for more ventilators. Instead the lengthy report was written outlining how to choose who would die. It includes a triage (death) panel. If this study was commissioned, rather than written by the government, it may have cost the same as 4 to 10 ventilators (or more). Why didn’t he buy the ventilators? Or ask Obama to do it? Or Trump? Or NYC? Why didn’t he ask Bloomberg to buy them? He’s had almost 5 years.

In 2015 New York estimated that they would be 15,783 ventilators short in a major pandemic and Cuomo apparently opted to study who would die instead of buying ventilators. Now he is demanding 30,000 ventilators, including the entire US stockpile. And, Trump unfairly sent NYC a quarter of the entire US stockpile. New York City is 2.5% of the US population, yet was given almost 25% of the Federal “stockpile” emergency ventilators – 10 times its fair share. Some rural counties in the United States have no ventilators. But, Trump’s from NYC, and his parents were friends with Cuomo’s parents and Trump gave big campaign donations to Cuomo’s father, Mario, and to Cuomo, and even hired Governor Andrew Cuomo as a lawyer. Trump got mad at Mario Cuomo, so he’s making Andrew Cuomo grovel, but he gave NY more than its fair share, which should alarm the rest of the country. The death rate from Coronavirus in New Orleans is rising and is 5% – higher than NYC.

Even in the New York triage document, they say that first come, first serve isn’t fair for choosing who gets ventilators (i.e. who has the right to live), yet it’s what Cuomo has demanded. Because NYC has a large population and/or are days ahead of the rest of the country Cuomo wants all of the US stockpile and more.

The 30,000 seems to be a bid to get between 15,000 and 16,000 that he failed to purchase ahead or demand that Obama or Trump/US Congress purchase in advance. NYC could have bought a stockpile, too. They own a hospital system, including Elmhurst hospital. Elmhurst is also complaining about mask shortages, and yet they have masks in the videos, whereas much of middle America is sewing masks now due to shortages.

The population of the USA is around 328.2 million. The population of NYC is 8.275 million (2.5%) and NY State is 19.16 million (5.8%). Despite having 5.8% of the US population, Cuomo demanded ALL of the ridiculously small US “stockpile” of what he calls 20,000 ventilators but is actually only 16,600 for New York. Texas and California are economically more powerful than NY, as well. The Trump Administration sent almost 25% of the US government reserve ventilators to New York City.

Furthermore, the Elmhurst hospital, in Queens – called “ground zero” for the outbreak, serves a primarily immigrant population of almost a million, including illegal immigrants. Ventilators from other New York City area hospitals were recently diverted to Elmhurst.

In 2015, Queens had an estimated 246,000 illegal immigrants. This was around 38% of illegal immigrants in New York City. Currently (March 28, 4 pm) Queens has 32% of NYC Covid-19 Coronavirus cases, i.e. 9831. Queens is 26.8% Asian, and 28.1% a wide variety of “hispanics”.

While some immigrants in the United States needed to come to the United States, the vast majority did not.

Elmhurst is the so-called “epicenter” of Covid-19/Coronavirus; other NYC area hospitals are sending them ventilators, and almost 25% of the US Federal ventilator reserve was sent to NYC. Since New York doesn’t allow discussion of immigration status, we will probably never know what percentage of young illegal immigrants or temp workers or even foreign born Americans were saved and cost the lives of multi-generational Americans. Why do Americans – even those who pay for health insurance – have no right to life in their own country?

Why did Cuomo and the US Federal government choose to create this ethics dilemma? A large part of this dilemma has roots in NYCs status as a sanctuary city.

While it seems clear that we shouldn’t allow illegal or legal foreign guests to die, something seems wrong that the US government may choose to save foreigners over Americans under a triage system. Of course, something similar happens all of the time, when H1B and other guest workers/immigrants are given jobs that belong to Americans or would otherwise belong to them. Now’s a good time to offer foreigners to voluntarily take two weeks of quarantine and then deliver them back to their home countries.

All supporters of mass legal and illegal immigration need to offer up their ventilators to the immigrants, and those of us who oppose it. And, for that matter, their jobs.

Since the Medicare for All pushers are abusing the pandemic to push for Medicare for All, remember that Elmhurst is the sort of medical system that the US would have under Medicare for All – except it’s decentralized and theoretically more accountable. Elmhurst victim of budget cuts? Certainly, and Medicare for All doesn’t even have startup budget – apart from the Medicare Trust into which seniors paid their entire working career. Lombardy in Italy is supposed to be their best medical system, but they are refusing ventilators to those as young as 61 in their triage system. Some blame austerity (budget cuts). Not surprisingly, with too few ventilators, they have a death rate from this virus of 15%.

Maybe if the US would go back to educating its own people, instead of importing unneeded and mostly fake foreign talent, then we would have new ventilators ready to go, like the UK does. The UK was in even more dire straits, but they have educated indigenous talent (James Dyson), who had invested in research: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dyson

“Dyson and Airbus expect green light to start making ventilators
The companies will start making up to 30,000 ventilators from next week to help the NHS fight Covid-19 ” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/airbus-dyson-firms-waiting-uk-green-light-produce-ventilators-coronavirus

“De Blasio announces Trump has sent 4,000 ventilators to New York, Daily Mail Online http://archive.is/s63Jp

NYC Sanctuary city policies appear to go back to 1989 under Mayor Ed Koch: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_city

The New York State governor writes the budget http://archive.is/M68lC meaning that Cuomo is to blame for the ventilators shortage, but the rest of the USA is getting shafted.

Cuomo wants all of what he called a current federal stockpile of 20,000 ventilators:
“Gov. Andrew Cuomo demands stockpiled ventilators go immediately to New York first” by CNN Wire Posted: Mar 24, 2020 / 10:03 AM PDT / Updated: Mar 24, 2020 / 10:03 AM PDT http://archive.is/pVgmU

On page 30 they estimate a shortfall of 15,783 in a 1918 style pandemic and give estimated patient numbers; etc. On page 31 they note that the US stockpile is NOT enough if many regions are in need. See too triage discussion, p. 5:
“VENTILATOR ALLOCATION GUIDELINES” New York State Task Force on Life and the Law New York State Department of Health November 2015 https://www.health.ny.gov/regulations/task_force/reports_publications/docs/ventilator_guidelines.pdf

“Subject: N.Y. May Need 18,000 Ventilators Very Soon. It Is Far Short of That“, The New York Times http://archive.is/uZpc1

The Federal government “stockpile” is 16,600. “THE GOVERNMENT’S SECRET VENTILATOR STOCKPILE IS NOWHERE NEAR ENOUGH TO FIGHT THE CORONAVIRUS” Published — March 24, 2020 https://publicintegrity.org/health/coronavirus-and-inequality/the-governments-secret-ventilator-stockpile-is-nowhere-near-enough-to-fight-the-coronavirus/ They must surely have a military stockpile above and beyond this. Not enough and then the Trump Admin gives most of it to NYC. Trump Admin’s message to the rest of the country is drop dead.

Unfortunately, either nothing was learned from the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina or the fact that those in power, who failed to plan, got by with murder was the lesson learned. Disaster plans must also include everyone living in a country, too. As Shea (2010) points out the importance of “planning for future disasters and developing frameworks and paradigms for the medical response to these situations, which address, and are consistent, with established ethical and legal principles to the greatest extent possible… Creating an exception to the prohibition against euthanasia in disaster or extreme emergency situations, however, either by way of expressly incorporating its use into a framework for disaster response, or simply condoning it, has no legal or ethical foundation in our country and is not necessary as a means to cope with disasters… Incorporating certain moral and legal absolutes in advance planning to guide decision-making in the chaos surrounding disasters or emergencies is clearly necessary.” See: Fredericka K. Shea, “Hurricane Katrina and the Legal and Bioethical Implications of Involuntary Euthanasia as a Component of Disaster Management in Extreme Emergency Situations“, 19 Annals Health L. 133 (2010). Available at: http://lawecommons.luc.edu/annals/vol19/iss1/27

Prediction: If anyone survives, we will find out that people were killed to get their ventilators. Refusal to give people ventilators based on age/health is murder, too.

Lombardy now (28-3-2020, 1700) has a death rate from coronavirus of 15% and they will soon be at 17%, if half die in intensive care. People need to start asking why this is happening in what is supposed to be the richest part of Italy with what was supposedly the best healthcare system in Italy. “Israeli doctor in Italy: We no longer help those over 60: Israeli medical doctor Gai Peleg told Israeli television that in northern Italy the orders are not to allow those over 60 access to respiratory machines“. The Jerusalem Post, March 22,2020 http://archive.is/IVWCd

The Veneto region of Italy has a 4.6% coronavirus death rate, which is less than New Orleans’ 5.4% coronavirus death rate at noon on the 28th. New York City’s coronavirus death rate at 4 pm on the 28th was 2%.

Elmhurst hospital is in Queens. According to their web site: “NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst serves an area of nearly one million people in one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse communities in the United States…” http://archive.is/dLnoo

“Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, is a 545-bed public hospital located in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, New York City. It is one of the 11 acute care hospitals of NYC Health + Hospitals, a public benefit corporation of the city. The current structure opened in 1957, assuming the operations of the former City Hospital, founded in 1832 on Roosevelt Island…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmhurst_Hospital_Center

Queens has a population of around 2.36 million. In 2015, there were an estimated 246,000 illegal immigrants in Queens and 643,000 in NYC. 91,000 were eligible for Obama’s deferred deportation programs (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents). See: “Queens top borough for illegal immigrants” by Matthew Ern, Chronicle Contributor Jan 22, 2015 Queens Chronicle: http://archive.is/U6bwr

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NYC_Health_%2B_Hospitals

“The present Flushing Chinatown, in the Flushing area of the borough of Queens, was predominantly non-Hispanic white and Japanese until the 1970s when Taiwanese began a surge of immigration, followed by other groups of Chinese. By 1990, Asians constituted 41% of the population of the core area of Flushing, with Chinese in turn representing 41% of the Asian population.[65] However, ethnic Chinese are constituting an increasingly dominant proportion. A 1986 estimate by the Flushing Chinese Business Association approximated 60,000 Chinese in Flushing alone.[66]… Elmhurst, another neighborhood in Queens, also has a large and growing Chinese community[70,71]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_ethnic_enclaves
It is important to note, however, that the first documented case of Covid-19/Coroavirus was an Iranian medical professional in Manhattan. There are Chinese Americans who have been in the United States for around 150 years, too. And, once people are in a country legally, they must be treated like everyone else.

However, now’s a good time to ask why those countries, like the United States, who are unwilling or unable care for their own citizens, continue to allow people to immigrate for reasons other than asylum.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2019/03/04/donald-trumps-seduction-of-mario-cuomo/

“The family feud behind the Trump-Cuomo battle: ‘Sometimes you have to hold a grudge’“, The Washington Post http://archive.is/WcERy