Washington State Gives 400 Ventilators For New York And Other States Struggling With COVID-19

The state of Washington is giving away 400 ventilators it received from the federal government so that states struggling with COVID-19, such as New York, may use the equipment.

Governor Jay Inslee, D-WA, announced on Sunday that the state would only retain 100 of the 500 ventilators it received from the Strategic National Stockpile last month.

"These ventilators are going to New York and others states hardest hit by this virus," Inslee said in a statement. "I’ve said many times over the last few weeks, we are in this together. This should guide all of our actions at an individual and state level in the coming days and weeks."

Inslee said that Washington's stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures helped in slowing down the number of infected cases and deaths. The governor was among the first to issue measures to stop the spread of the virus after Washington reported the very first COVID-19 case in the United States in late January.

Initially, the state had one of the highest numbers of positive cases in the country. But Inslee said the orders to stay at home were heeded and many Washingtonians have been committed to observing physical distancing since then.

Washington's COVID-19 cases, to date, are below 8,000 with 343 deaths.

The ventilators, however, are not meant for treating COVID-19 patients since these individuals will need a machine with stronger pressure support, according to Jessica Baggett of the National Stockpile. However, Washington's donations will be useful for other patients, thus freeing up the stronger ventilators actually needed by COVID-19 patients.

Washington is also expecting 750 new ventilators purchased a few weeks ago. These machines are expected to arrive in the next few weeks.

Following the state's lead, California and Oregon are also donating its National Stockpile ventilators to New York.

"We still have a long road ahead of us in the Golden State – and we’re aggressively preparing for a surge – but we can’t turn our back on Americans whose lives depend on having a ventilator now," California Governor Gavin Newsom announced in a press conference on Monday.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown also said it would be giving away 140 ventilators to New York.