The Peru Gazette

“Right now, we must prioritize the safety of all New Yorkers. We need to limit the movement of people from New York City and surrounding hot spots. We need to flatten the curve and infection rate, so we can keep as many people safe as possible.

“I understand that New York City is rapidly reaching the apex of its struggle with coronavirus and that they are in desperate need of resources. But the Governor’s approach to transferring patients upstate and not limit travel from downstate is likely to cause a peak infection rate up here at the same time. If both New York City and the rest of the state are overrun at the same time, our state may not be able to adequately ensure the safety of all of our citizens.

“Our ventilators and protection equipment must remain here with us for when North Country and upstate hospitals need to use them to care for our residents. Our hospitals already possess precious few ventilators and PPE, and we are going to need all of them to care for our vulnerable population. We can’t have these vital resources taken from us AND be expected to care for a deluge of downstate patients, as well as our own.

“In this time of a statewide and national crisis, you just can’t send COVID-19 patients north and ship our medical resources south.”