New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is getting his wish, as Defense Secretary Mark Esper is set to deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to New York to assess the state's need for hospital beds as it faces the coronavirus crisis.
Cuomo has been calling for the Corps of Engineers to be sent to his state to build hospital beds quickly and help deal with what he sees as the inevitable crush of COVID-19 patients flooding hospitals past capacity.
Esper, appearing Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "Special Report," told host Bret Baier he had a "good conversation" with the governor and "what he sees is a deficit, if you will, in hospital beds in New York state as he looks ahead to what may be coming."
"I gave him my full commitment that we would get the Corps of Engineers up there soonest, to assess the problem and see how we can help out," Esper said.
Cuomo, appearing on MSNBC, told Rachel Maddow, "I spoke to the secretary of defense today. I have the Army Corps of Engineers coming in here tomorrow."
Appearing Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Cuomo said: "I only have 3,000 intensive care beds, and these people are going to need the intensive care unit beds. The only hope we have now at this late date is to retrofit existing facilities."
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