The federal government must "step up to the plate" and set up national rules, including ordering mass closures of schools and more to fight the spread of coronavirus, as it is not enough for the states to enforce different rules that end at their own borders, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in several interviews Monday morning.
"All the states are doing different things, the cities are doing different things," Cuomo told CNN's "New Day." "It doesn't work that way. In an emergency, someone has to take charge...we need the federal government to stand up and say, here are the rules."
That means the government must set up nationwide rules including "school closings, bars, and then understand that we have an impending catastrophe when this wave of growth crashes on the hospital system and we don't have the capacity."
Cuomo also warned that the nation needs additional hospital beds for the coming crisis, calling for the Army Corps of Engineers to be ordered to retrofit state buildings, dormitories and more for the capacity that will be needed.
The governor told ABC's "Good Morning America" that he posted an open letter through The New York Times Sunday asking the federal government to allow states to take over testing, but warned in the interview that his state has just 50,000 beds available, including 3,000 intensive care beds.
The governor later Monday joined with leaders in neighboring states of New Jersey and Connecticut Monday to abide by the same rules for closures, including prohibiting gatherings of 50 people or more and ordering supermarkets and other essential businesses to adhere to strict social distancing practices.
Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Cuomo said his state has taken matters into its own hands but it can't do everything.
"I have one of the largest state governments in the nation, but I can't build hospital beds in three weeks," said Cuomo.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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