Latimer asks federal gov't for help, says county doesn't have facilities to handle expected COVID-19 cases over next

Westchester County Executive George Latimer is joining Gov. Andrew Cuomo's call on the federal government for help.
Just like Cuomo, Latimer is sounding the alarm that Westchester doesn't have the facilities to handle the expected coronavirus surge over the next few weeks.
The state believes the number of coronavirus cases will peak over the next 14-21 days.
Latimer says the county just doesn't have enough beds to handle that kind of massive increase in hospitalizations.
Currently, Westchester has 3,000 hospital beds and 160 intensive care unit beds.
The county has nearly 4,000 cases since March 1.
The hospitalization rate is around 12%, and of those in the hospital, 23% need intensive care statewide.
County officials are looking for solutions to treat everybody.
"We don't write those people off, we don't see a mine disaster and just close up the front of the mine and say those people are lost. We try our very best to save those very people as best as we can. And that is the situation that we are in now. We have human life that's at stake depending on how this contagion expands," says Latimer.
The temporary FEMA hospital at the Westchester County Center is set to open up next week and will help ease the burden, but the 250 additional beds won't quite be enough.
Latimer has also offered up Rye Playland and FDR Park in Yorktown as future sites the state could use to open up more mobile testing sites.
Cases in Westchester by municipality:
Ardsley 3
Bedford 9
Briarcliff Manor 9
Bronxville 9
Buchanan 0
Cortlandt 28
Croton-on-Hudson 5
Dobbs Ferry 16
Eastchester 35
Elmsford 5
Greenburgh 61
Harrison 29
Hastings-on-Hudson 11
Irvington 7
Larchmont 13
Lewisboro 7
Mamaroneck Town 18
Mamaroneck Village 16
Mount Kisco 18
Mount Pleasant 30
Mount Vernon 81
New Castle 13
New Rochelle 225
North Castle 13
North Salem 2
Ossining Town 7
Ossining Village 35
Peekskill 25
Pelham 17
Pelham Manor 11
Pleasantville 14
Port Chester 45
Pound Ridge 1
Rye Brook 16
Rye City 14
Scarsdale 38
Sleepy Hollow 17
Somers 8
Tarrytown 12
Tuckahoe 7
White Plains 65
Yonkers 191
Yorktown 30
Total: 1216
NOTE –
  • Town numbers reflect the unincorporated sections of the part of town outside villages within the town.
  • Numbers reflect the actual residents of the municipality, not “zip code” residents who live in an adjacent community.
  • Data lags state number by as much as 3 days, due to State release of data to the County only after the tested individual has been informed of their status.  
CORONAVIRUS TRACKER - Cases in the tri-state area
CORONAVIRUS PREVENTION: What you can do to protect yourself
 PHOTOS: The impact of coronavirus around the world
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