As expected, our Harris County just-turned 29-year-old, no advanced degree (and whose only prior work experience was first in Thailand for a non-profit advocating for freedom of the press, and then as an interpreter--she was born in Columbia--somewhere at the Texas Medical Center), elected democrat county judge (who replaced the venerable Ed Emmett, who had effectively and efficiently steered the USA's third most populous county through multiple crises and emergencies) joined with the so-blue-he-glows Mayor Sylvester Turner to this morning issue a stay at home order for all of Harris County. Actually they call it "Stay Home, Work Safe." Even had big signs and banners printed up. I wonder if the sign printer is an essential business. Hm.
Anyway, like Galveston, it takes effect at 11:59 p.m. tonight and remains in effect through at least April 3. Violators could face a fine and up to 180 days in jail.
https://www.click2houston.com/health/20 ... s-for-you/
In other news, New York governor Mario Cuomo holds a lengthy press release this morning where he announced that the state will need not 110,000 hospital beds as previously projected, but 150,000, and that the prediction is the state will need 30,000 ventilators but has only a fraction of that. And that the peak requirement will come sooner than expected, in 14 to 21 days. Cuomo laid into President Trump for not invoking the Defense Production Act immediately in order to force companies to drop what they're doing, retool, and work 24/7 on building ventilators.
Then he contradicts himself by saying that these are complex pieces of equipment that take over 10 days to manufacture, and that New York will need a minimum of two weeks to get them deployed. Wait. Somehow 10 days plus 14 days equals 14 days? I'm confused.
His big push was for federal ventilator supplies. He said the feds have 20,000 ventilators in inventory, but that all HHS recently sent to New York was just over 400. He said New York state was the "canary in a coal mine" in this situation. That they were the epicenter of infection and will peak at a far faster rate than any other state and have far more need of ventilators. Therefore, his demand to President Trump was that
all 20,000 ventilators in federal inventory be sent immediately to New York.
All. As in every single ventilator in federal government control. Right now. But Cuomo did promise to send the ventilators along to other states once New York is done with them.
