No one knew just how quickly infections had increased between March 10th and 20th, but the potential numbers were terrifying. Hospitalizations had risen 3.6-fold in five days. If they increased again at that rate over the next 10, the city would have almost 9,000 patients a day by March 30 before the lockdowns finally kicked in. Thus Cuomo projected that coronavirus patients would soon overrun every medical center in New York. On Tuesday, March 24, he projected New York would need 140,000 hospital beds and 40,000 ventilators for them within two to three weeks – an unfathomable catastrophe.
