Coronavirus Update: Nassau County Reports Fewer Patients Needing Ventilators
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – Nassau County Executive Laura Curran shared more promising news in the county's fight against coronavirus.
Curran said the number of patients who needed ventilators decreased by 24 overnight.
"This is the first time we're seeing a decrease in the number of ventilators being used – another very good sign," she said. "That's one day. We're going to see if that trend continues."
She also said more people are being discharged from the hospital than being admitted.
"That's the third day in a row where the number of discharged is larger than then number of new ones coming in. That is a very good sign," she said. "Three days in a row indicates that we are approaching or are in a plateau."
At last count, there were 16,610 positive cases and 500 deaths countywide.
Earlier Wednesday, the state released new data showing the ethnicities of those who have died.
Curran said the data isn't broken down by county, but she expects to see those numbers in the coming days.
"There is no question that some communities lack the same access to health care as others. There are several reasons for that – there could be a lack of health care, it could be a lack of resources to obtain health care," she said. "We also know that with covid specifically, people with hypertension and people who are diabetic are more vulnerable to succumbing to covid-19. We also know that among our African American community, there is a higher prevalence of hypertension and diabetes. So it's really important for us to look into the numbers to see what the correlations are."
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The county executive said hospitals are running low on gowns, but thanked several organizations for donating masks, hand sanitizer and snacks.
She also said the New York Blood Center will start calling patients who have resolved to see if they are willing to donate their plasma, which can help researchers develop a treatment.
