The America We Still Believe In: 76,000 Healthcare Workers Volunteer to Help New York

A holy Christian cross laying on an open Bible with an American flag in the background. (Enterline Design Services LLC/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

On Sunday, during Andrew Cuomo’s daily coronavirus news briefing, the governor announced that “tens of thousands” have volunteered their time to help the great state of New York.

There’s certainly a growing need, and Cuomo noted that the toll of the virus hasn’t yet peaked.

At the time of this writing, NY’s pandemic death count is 965. Andrew asserted that the Big Apple can’t expect to make it through without suffering losses in the thousands.

But there is light in the darkness, in the form of brave souls who want to help their fellow Americans:

“In terms of finding staff, that’s going very well. The volunteerism of New Yorkers, God bless them, we’re up to 76,000 health care workers who have volunteered. 76,000. 76,000 people who volunteered to go into these hospitals at this time. Just think about that.”

Incredible.

That’s the America we believe in. The one in which we want to live.

When our nation incurs a wound, we rise to fight.

Cuomo went on to discuss the trend of confirmed cases. The rate is slowing:

“If you look early on, the hospitalization rate was doubling every two days; then it doubled every three days; then it doubled every four days; now it’s doubling every six days. So, you have almost a dichotomy. The doubling rate is slowing, and that is good news, but the number of cases are still going up…towards an apex, but the rate of the doubling is slowing, which is good news.”

As reported by The Daily Wire, Andrew showed slides revealing a rising number of COVID-19 hospitalizations — from 91 in mid-March to 1,175 as of Sunday.

Also, as per his slides, there were 282 ICU admissions Saturday, compared to 46 on March 17th.

Speaking about Easter and Passover, he observed that now isn’t the time for religious — or any — gatherings, referencing the suburb of New Rochelle, where a containment cluster recently encircled a synagogue:

“It’s hard. But on the flip-side, I say, look at what happened in New Rochelle. Those gatherings [that] brought people together were religious gatherings, and brought hundreds of people together, which was beautiful – but it made many, many people ill. And density is the enemy here for this particular time. So, you worship the way you can, but the gatherings are just not a good idea.”

Lastly, the governor gave his opinion of the casualties New York’s bound to see:

“I don’t see how you look at those numbers and conclude anything less than thousands of people will pass away because remember who it’s attacking. It’s attacking the vulnerable, underlying illness, etc, and I don’t see how you get past that curve without seeing thousands of people pass away. I hope it’s wrong…”

So do we all.

Back to the courageous volunteers, amid this crisis, people are doing amazing things.

Please see some of those, from my article last week:

In This Time of Uncertainty, America Shows Its True Colors: We Are a Nation of Kindness and Love for Our Fellow Man