March 30, 2020
New Jersey will receive 300 ventilators from the federal government to help the state further combat the coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Monday.
“After multiple conversations with the White House, we just received word that 300 ventilators are on their way to New Jersey from the national stockpile,” Murphy tweeted on Monday. “Ventilators are our number one need right now. I won’t stop fighting for the equipment we need to save every life we can.”
Murphy had pleaded for more ventilators over the weekend, telling ABC News that they are the state's most pressing need as it works to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“The big headline for us right now are ventilators,” Murphy said on “This Week.” “We had a very specific conversation with the White House [Saturday night] about ventilators. That’s our No. 1 ask. It’s our No. 1 need. And that’s the one we are focused most on right now. We have a long way to go on the whole PPE front, but we’ve made more progress in other areas than we have right now on ventilators. That’s our big focus.”
Murphy shared his gratitude to the Trump administration after learning of the upcoming shipment. But he reiterated that New Jersey still needs more.
“I will not stop until we get the support we need,” Murphy said.
Ventilators are our number one concern right now. The need is dire.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 30, 2020
Our hospitals are quickly running toward full ventilator capacity. We’re working with them and @fema to allow them to “co-vent” – have 2 patients connected to the same ventilator. This will buy us precious time.
We need more ventilators.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 30, 2020
I will continue to say those four words in every phone call I have @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and the Administration until we get them.
This is real life. This is life and death.
I will leave no stone unturned to find the ventilators we need.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) March 30, 2020
Lives depend on it.
One model, run by the University of Washington, currently projects New Jersey will run out of out of medical resources by the time cases peak in mid-April.
The state previously received a shipment of personal protective equipment from the federal government. That shipment included 120,000 N95 masks, 287,000 surgical masks, 62,000 face shields, 51,000 surgical gloves, 3,500 coveralls, 368,000 pairs of gloves and 1,000 medical beds.
“We're thankful to our federal partners for their support,” Murphy tweeted. “New Jersey is in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and we'll keep working to get more of the PPE we need to keep New Jerseyans safe.”
Murphy signed an executive order Saturday directing health care facilities to report information such as bed, PPE and ventilator inventory on a daily basis. The order, which went into effect on Sunday morning, is directed toward licensed acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities, hospital systems and temporary medical facilities.
“Personal protective equipment for our frontline health care workers and first responders is critically important to fighting COVID-19,” Murphy said in a statement on Saturday. “We must work within our health care networks to ensure that we are properly disbursing the personal protective equipment we receive from the national stockpile and donations proactively. Today’s executive order will allow us to more efficiently and effectively manage the flow of personal protective equipment as hospitals begin expanding their capacities to meet the need of more COVID-19 patients, and allow us to have constantly up-to-date data on bed capacity throughout the state.”
New Jersey has 16,636 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 198 deaths, as of Monday afternoon. Camden County has 200 cases, Burlington County has 178 and Gloucester County has 89 cases.
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