'We need the Federal help now' -NY Governor Cuomo

'We need the Federal help now' -NY Governor Cuomo

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday pleaded with the federal government to release a stockpile of ventilators for people who desperately need them in the state.

Cuomo has also been urging the Trump administration to use the Defense Production Act act to tell manufacturers they must produce desperately needed supplies to fight the coronavirus.

"Only the federal government has that power and not to exercise that power is inexplicable to me," Cuomo said at a briefing on Tuesday.

"I do not for the life of me understand the reluctance to use the federal Defense Production Act." The Trump administration plans to use the Defense Production Act on Tuesday to procure 60,000 coronavirus test kits, amid severe shortages of kits, masks, ventilators and other crucial equipment for healthcare workers, a federal official said.