CASES SURGING

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Calls for Military Assistance to Slow Coronavirus Pandemic

The New York mayor said military officers are still building a wall on the southern border when they should be helping with the coronavirus crisis.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for military assistance as coronavirus cases surged in the city by at least 100 in a day. “The military has extraordinary medical capacity,” de Blasio said on NBC’s Today show on Wednesday morning. “It’s needed in places like New York right now.” New York has recorded a total of almost 1,000 cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths—the most of any state in the country. On Tuesday, de Blasio said New Yorkers should prepare for a possible “shelter in place” order to be made within 48 hours however Gov. Andrew Cuomo said such an order was unlikely. On Wednesday, de Blasio said a decision could only be made in agreement with the state but it would be “considered seriously starting today.” He said the Trump administration had not mobilized the military and some military officers were still building a wall on the southern border.

“All they should be doing domestically is addressing coronavirus,” he said. “We need their medical resources, their logistical know-how, we need them to help ensure that food and medicine moves around this country and our supply chain is not disrupted. Right now, we are in the midst of a crisis we have not seen for generations... and yet the American military is being side-lined.” There have been at least 97 deaths in the U.S. from COVID-19, according to the Associated Press’ latest figures.