West Coast lawmakers are lending a helping hand to New York and other states that are in desperate need of ventilators as the novel coronavirus spreads.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that he would be donating 500 devices to the national stockpile to meet demand in New York, which has over 130,000 cases and nearly 17,000 COVID-19-related hospitalizations. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly warned that the state hospitals would run out of ventilators as the number of hospitalizations surges.
Even though California has 13,438 coronavirus cases and 2,398 COVID-19-related hospitalizations as of Monday, Newsom said he recognized that New York had a bigger battle ahead.
MORE: Cuomo knocks Trump's claim about NY and ventilators"We still have a long road ahead of us in the Golden State – and we’re aggressively preparing for a surge – but we can’t turn our back on Americans whose lives depend on having a ventilator now," Newsom said in a statement.
California's donation comes after Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon and Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington state announced they would share their supplies.
On Saturday, Brown said she donated 140 ventilators because Oregon was "in a better position" with its coronavirus cases. As of Monday, Oregon has 1,068 cases and 258 hospitalizations, according to data from the Oregon State Health Department.
"New York needs more ventilators, and we are answering their call for help," Brown tweeted.
Cuomo thanked Brown during his daily briefing on Saturday.
MORE: New York expects coronavirus peak as hospitals near capacity"I know Gov. Brown and she is a kind person, but it's also smart from the point of view of Oregon," he said. "Why? Because we're all in the same battle and the battle is stopping the spread of the virus."
On Sunday, Inslee said he was returning 400 ventilators to the national stockpile and those machines would be redistributed to New York and other states. Washington had 7,984 confirmed cases as of Monday, according to its health department.
"I’ve said many times over the last few weeks, we are in this together. This should guide all of our actions at an individual and state level in the coming days and weeks," he said in a statement.