De Blasio says April and May 'are going to be a lot worse'

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio (D) said Sunday the coronavirus outbreak will get worse in the next two months, adding that he does not think President Trump is doing enough to mitigate the pandemic. “The truth is, and New Yorkers and all Americans deserve the blunt truth, it is only getting worse. And in fact, April and May are going to be a lot worse,” the mayor said.

The outbreak will get even worse, he said, due to Trump’s refusal to invoke the Defense Production Act for the medical equipment hospitals need. “The president of the United States is from New York City and he will not lift a finger to help his hometown,” de Blasio said, adding that New York City accounts for a third of the cases of COVID-19 across the country.

The mayor said he has repeatedly asked for the military to be mobilized to be “used to the fullest” to get equipment such as ventilators. The mayor said all medically trained military personnel should be sent to “places where the crisis is deep,” such as New York.

He added that if ventilators are being produced, they need to be sent to New York, not in months but in the next 10 days. “And the only force in America that could do that is the military," de Blasio said. "Why are they at their bases? Why are they not being allowed to serve? I guarantee you they're ready to serve. But the president has to give the order.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/488868-de-blasio-says-april-and-may-are-going-to-be-a-lot-worse