In Just 24 Hours, 1,000 Retired Health Care Workers Volunteer To Help Fight Coronavirus In NYC

In just 24 hours, 1,000 retired health care workers in New York City volunteered to join the fight against coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview with WCBS 880 on Wednesday. The mayor likened their bold decision to his parents' generation entering war.

"This is going to be like a war effort. Most New Yorkers haven't experienced what this city and this country is like in a full-scale war," de Blasio said. "My parents both served in the war effort in WWII. I heard these stories from the youngest years of my life."

"When the entire community, the entire city, the entire nation are in common cause, it's a different reality and everyone is going to have to work together to overcome this crisis, and we're going to use every tool, every building, every resource to get us through this," the mayor said.

He added that he asked earlier this week for retired health care workers to return to work, and he had good news: "In the last 24 hours, 1,000 New Yorkers who are retired medical personnel have volunteered to join the effort to fight coronavirus. I think that's so inspiring. So many people are coming forward to help and that's how we're going to beat this back."

Last week, other elected officials called on "former" health care workers to rejoin the workforce, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

According to Polis, former health care workers include anyone retired or working in another field whose medical license is still active or can be reactivated.

Health care workers have been struggling to balance providing care with the fear of exposing their families to the illness. Some say they do not have the protective equipment they need.

"We are two weeks or three weeks away from running out of the supplies that we need most for our hospitals," de Blasio said Thursday, according to The Associated Press. 

Lack of hospital beds has also been a concern — especially in New York City. In his interview with WCBS 880, de Blasio said the city is looking to convert large spaces like hotels into health care facilities or logistics staging. On Wednesday, Cuomo said President Trump agreed to send a Navy ship to New York City that will function as a hospital. 

First published on March 20, 2020 / 2:21 PM

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